My Hero Academia: A World of Marvels
by Convergence96
Summary: What would happen if Marvel and My Hero Academia existed in the same universe? Our story takes place after the End of Term Test and the epic showdown with the Hero Killer Stain, and the students of Yuuei could use a break. However, a stranger from the West pays the heroes-in-training a visit, with a proposition that will face off Class 1-A with the young heroes of the Marvel Academ
1. 1 - Prepare for a Journey to the West!

_**Welcome to the brand new rendition of the fated Marvel/BNHA crossover! I've had months to really think about how to mold this world around this idea, and now I feel confident to share the second version with you!**_

_***I do not own anything. Boku no Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi and Shueisha Inc. All characters borrowed from Marvel properties belong to Marvel Entertainment and the Walt Disney Corporation. **_

A loud sigh echoed throughout the empty halls of Yuuei. Izuku Midoriya was walking through the entrance to his high school. The Final Exams had ended just yesterday, and he was tired; very, very tired. No, it was more than that. He was completely exhausted. From his match with Todoroki, his internship, from the the exams...and Stain. The Hero Killer. That fanatic was still lurking in the recesses of his mind. It wasn't often that Midoriya underestimated his opponents, but he had made that unfortunate mistake that fateful night, and he had a lot of time since then to think about what that encounter really meant to him.

The lunatic could have easily killed him, Todoroki and Iida too. They were lucky, and he was glad they managed to scrape by, but the young man couldn't forget the things that Stain had said, about the hypocrisy of heroes, run by individual greed and glory.

For as long as he could remember, he admired heroes. But now that he was in the thick of it all, the dark spots in the hero world were easier to see. Not all heroes were perfect. Even All Might, his beloved mentor, was prone to doubt and cynicism, just like when the two had first met all those months ago. Thinking back to his classmates, he had always admired their dedication and resolve to become heroes, mostly for noble reasons. But they were young, they had only gotten tastes of the real world. Whose to say that they won't end up the same way when they graduate? Himself, Uraraka, Iida, Kacchan...

Midoriya stopped in front of the doorway to his classroom, the ridiculously oversized door shadowing his meek, bandaged frame. He had been so wrapped up in the recent fight and his own self-doubt that he had forgotten that he should be excited. He had passed the final exam, partnered up with Kacchan no less! He hadn't been confident in their performance at the time but they managed to work together! Even if it did piss off his childhood friend, and knowing the guy's explosive ego, he'd probably hold it against him forever. Midoriya smiled to himself. At least the teamwork was something productive between the two them. He was still out cold in the nurse's office, of course. He hoped he'd be all right.

Either way, Midoriya decided to smile, just like his mentor had taught him. He had learned so much this term, and he was ready to take the time to relax now that they were on vacation. He walked in with a spring in his step. He still couldn't help but wonder what they were going to be doing today. They were supposed to get some time off after the exams, but Mr. Aizawa had instructed the class to show up today.

"Ah, Midoriya!" He looked over to see his friend Tenya Iida walking over to him, his right hand raised in greeting.

"Oh, hey Iida! Do you have any idea why Mr. Aizawa wanted us here today? It seems a little unusual, even for him."

Iida was as straight-laced as usual, his body completely erect as he placed his hand to his chin in thought.

"Indeed, I was wondering that myself. Since all of the exams for the term are completed, it would be reasonable to allow us students a few days to recuperate. It's all very odd. However," Iida turned towards the rest of the room, gesturing in the direction with pointed hands. "There's something even odder."

Midoriya followed Iida's gaze, and looked on a tiny detail he hadn't noticed before.

"Huh? Where is everyone??"

Iida crossed his arms. "My thoughts exactly. We were called here, yet only a few of us are present with 10 minutes until the first bell! It's utterly disgraceful for our class to display such behavior!"

Midoriya couldn't help but chuckle at his friends exaggerated parental action, and looking around the room, he had never noticed how large the classroom actually was without the bulk of the class. Aside from himself and Iida, Midoriya counted Tokoyami, Todoroki, Sero, Kirishima, Kaminari, Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, and...

"Kacchan?!" He saw his explosive classmate sitting in his usual seat next to Kirishima. He turned towards Midoriya at the sound of his exclamation. He was clearly ticked off, and looking beat, no less.

A wave of concern washed over Midoriya's face as he addressed his childhood friend. "H-hey Kacchan, I'm glad to s-see your out of the infirmary, although frankly after our battle with All Might and how badly you strained your body I-I'm surprised to see you in class at all but at l-least-"

Bakugou grimaced, a pissed-off look in his eye. "Shut up, nerd." He growled at the meek Midoriya, who was frozen mid-mutter, and quickly shielded his mouth with his hands, petrified of provoking him further.

Iida shook his head in disapproval. "I suppose his pride is still somewhat damaged after the two of you passed the final exam. Still though, some gratitude won't kill him."

Thinking back to their shared past, Midoriya seriously doubted that was the case. The rest of the class took the initiative to break the tension and greet Midoriya.

"Yo, Midoriya!" Kirishima waved with a sharp toothed smile. "We were just discussing what's so important that Mr. Aizawa called us here on our day off! You don't know anything, do you?"

"We guessed that it likely had to do with the trip to the training camp in some way, but we can't figure out how." Yaoyorozu added.

Midoriya shrugged. "W-well you got me. I figured we'd at least get some time to rest."

The others nodded their heads in agreement when two girls hurriedly burst through the door.

"Oh thank goodness, we made it!" Ochaco Uraraka paused to catch her breath, accompanied my Mina Ashido. "Hey Deku! Iida! I'm sooo happy we made it before the first bell! I'm really not used to coming to school on a weekend!"

Ashido chimed in, shaking her arms in frustration. "Seriously! I was really looking forward to some rest after the exam and shopping for training camp!"

While the others attempted to console Ashido, Midoriya took the opportunity to talk to his Zero-Gravity friend.

" 'Morning, Uraraka! I never got to congratulate you on passing the final yesterday! Your battle training with Gunhead really paid off, huh?"

The girls pink cheeks slowly darkened into a deep scarlet as she thought back to Aoyama's assumptions yesterday. She had been so flustered she had avoided him the rest of the day. She felt so embarrassed for her behavior, but she couldn't think of what to say to him.

Is it because...you like him?

"Uh, Uraraka? Are you feeling alright? Your face...it's really red."

She jolted back to her senses, putting her hands up defensively. "O-oh, yeah Deku, I'm fine. Still catching my breath is all. Sooo, any idea what class today is all about? You don't think it's anything super serious, do you??"

Before Midoriya could answer, their homeroom teacher lumbered into the classroom. "What are you all doing crowded around the doorway? You should be in your seats."

The class (or the parts that were present) knew better than to question Mister Aizawa, and promptly took their seats, which oddly spaced some of them out due to the absence of some of their peers.

Aizawa took his place at the front of the room, sighing before applying eye drops to his reddened eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Everyone move to the front desks accordingly, I'm not in the mood to project all the way across the room today."

The students cautiously followed suit.

"I know today isn't a typical school day, but that's no excuse to not follow the rules. I'm sure you're all wondering why you're all here...yes, Uraraka?"

She had raised her hand. "Mr. Aizawa...shouldn't we wait for the rest of the class before we start?"

"Time is precious. Besides, there's no need. The 12 of you are the only ones in the class that were instructed to be here."

The class raised their eyebrows at that.

"Unfortunately, although the school had planned for the trip to the training camp to take place the week after the finals were completed, they have been put on hold for a little while."

Some of the class definitely reacted to that.

"Are you serious?!"

"But...we worked so hard!"

"I know I failed, but I totally deserve to gooo!"

Aizawa glared at them with glowing red eyes, prompting the students to shut their mouths.

"I understand you're all either upset or confused. You'll have a better understanding of the situation after the assembly. We're expected to be there in 15 minutes, so let's get a move on. Leave your stuff here, you can come back for it before you go home."

An assembly? Now that was strange. Class 1-A hadn't really been a part of those, unless you counted the beginning of the entrance exam. Midoriya was certain that questions were also floating in everyones minds.

Of course Iida was the first to raise his hand. "Mr. Aizawa! Could you tell us what the nature of this meeting will be?"

Mr. Aizawa sighed impatiently. Now that the Erasure Hero had recovered, it reminded everyone that no one really missed his cold disposition. "All of the questions I'm sure you all have will be answered by Principle Nezu and the other staff members. Now hurry it up, you're wasting time."

The principle? Other staff members? What was this about? He hoped it had nothing to do with the League of Villains. He wondered if All Might would be there. He really hoped it was nothing serious...

"Uh, Deku? You're doing that muttering-thing again." Uraraka was standing over Midoriya's desk, a puzzled look on her face. "We need to get going, or Mr. Aizawa's gonna get mad!"

He hadn't realized he was muttering out loud. He reminded himself to be more conscientious of that.

"Ah! Uh, right! S-sorry Uraraka!"

Midoriya quickly followed his classmates across campus to the auditorium, where he noticed that 3 students from Class 1-B, Itsuka Kendo, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Ibara Shiozaki were already being led inside by Blood King, their homeroom teacher. Further ahead in the line, Kirishima waved down his Class 1-B rival.

"Hey! Tetsutetsu! How's it hanging man?"

Tetsutetsu smirked at Kirishima. "What's up? Itchin' for a rematch as much as I am, Kirishima?"

Smirking back, Kirishima jabbed at his friends shoulder. "Ha! It'll be your funeral, Metalhead! Seriously though, you know what this is all about?"

"Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing. Guess they're keeping us all in the dark. You don't think it's about the League of Villains, do ya?"

Bakugou, who was just ahead, grit his teeth and growled behind him. "Shut up, idiots. If any more of those weaklings try to mess with us again it'll be their last mistake. I'll kill every last one of those jerks!" Bakugou was wearing his infamous bloodthirsty grin, no doubt fantasizing how he would deliver brutal justice to Hand-Face and and Smokey. It was interrupted when he heard Tetsutetsu behind him.

"Jeez, is this jerk always this disturbed? Maybe he can scare away the villains with that face of his."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY, BASTARD!?" Bakugou did a full 360 towards Tetsutetsu, the popping of small explosions in his hands. It wasn't the best insult, but it pissed off Bakugou all the same. Kirishima activated his quirk as he struggled to keep the two separated.

"Hey!"

The three students turned to Mr. Aizawa, whose eyes shone red on the three knuckleheads. "Are we going to have a problem here? The three of you are giving me a migraine."

Tetsutetsu and Bakugou reluctantly backed off, refusing to stop glaring at one another. Kirishima was understandably defensive. "The THREE of us? Mr. Aizawa, I was trying to stop these guys-"

"Kirishima." Mr. Aizawa turned back and glared. "Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time. Stay in line and keep your egos out of the auditorium today, I'd hate to have to hold the THREE of you back by giving you detention. Now get back inside."

"Oooooh" Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido chimed in unison, embarrassing Kirishima and totally pissing off Tetsutetsu and Bakugou, proceeding inside the auditorium with the rest of their classes.

Once Class 1-A/1-B took their seats, Midoriya took a good look around. The auditorium wasn't any different from any other school auditorium, in fact it was the same one they met at for the entrance exam months ago. He turned his attention to the stage. Not only were the principal and their respective homeroom teachers there, but All Might, Thirteen, Midnight, and even Ectoplasm were standing on stage, at least as well as he could on his prosthetic legs. Whatever this was about, it must really be that serious if so much of the staff is here. It was then Midoriya focused his attention on their seats, and spotted a couple of familiar faces.

"Isn't that Hatsume? And the brain-washing guy you fought in the festival?" Uraraka asked.

Yeah, it was. Mei Hatsume from the Support Course and Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies. What are they doing here? Midoriya wondered. Now that he thought about it, it was strange that only three students from 1-B were here as well, and not the whole class. His eyes widened.

"Guys! I just realized something..."

Iida and Uraraka turned to Midoriya. "Hm? What is it, Midoriya?" Iida asked.

Midoriya looked at his friends. "I think I just realized why some our classmates aren't here. It might be because just about everyone here was in the top 16 finals of the Sports Festival!"

The two companions looked at their peers. Uraraka responded first. "Hey, yeah you're right! Weird..."

Iida added. "But that doesn't answer why we're having this assembly, and why the 16 finalists? Not to mention that Kendo is here as well, who didn't make it to the finals. There must be something we're missing here..."

As they approached their seats, Shinso noticed Midoriya walking down with the rest of the students. He smirked, and Midoriya responded with a nod. He nodded back. At least the two were, as far as Midoriya could interpret, on good terms.

After taking their seats, Midoriya snapped out of his thoughts when Principal Nezu called everyones attention, and the small mammal spoke up to the students.

"Good morning, students! I hope some of you were able to get some rest after the Final Exams, and I believe congratulations are in order for those of you that passed!" Kaminari and Ashido in particular shuddered at that statement, still haunted by the frightening battle their dimunitive principal put up. "Yes, yes, it really was something impressive, and in light of that, I have a special announcement to make!"

An announcement? The students murmured amongst themselves, raising even more questions now. The principal appeared to revel in the atmosphere of the room before he hushed the teens.

"As a matter of fact, I'll have our special guest make the announcement for me! He is the headmaster of the Marvel Academy of Gifted Youngsters, and he's traveled a long way to meet all of you. Please give a warm welcome to Professor Charles Xavier!"

If Midoriya's eyes could get any wider, someone might consider it a quirk. Charles Xavier?! Students around him began to react excitedly. The principal wasn't serious? Was he? Midoriya's questions were almost immediately answered by a distinct British accent.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen."

Midoriya thought he was going to squeal as the elderly gentleman gently rolled across the stage on his wheelchair until he stopped next to principal Nezu. There was no mistaking that bald head, "This is THE Charles Xavier!"

Uraraka seemed slightly confused. She was sure she had heard the name before, and she was slightly embarrassed that she couldn't place it, since so many of her peers were absolutely glowing at this mans presence. She turned and whispered to Deku, "Um, I'm sorry but...who's Charles Xavier?"

Midoriya thought he was going to fall out of his seat. He could understand why she wouldn't have heard of him, Japanese news channels typically pulled focus towards domestic heroes, rather than foreign ones. Still, he couldn't contain his surprise. "You've never heard of Charles Xavier?!"

Midoriya was slightly louder than Uraraka, if only due to his shock, so a few ears from their classmates heard Midoriya's hushed exclamation and glanced over, but lost interest and turned their attention back to the stage.

Midoriya began to explain to Uraraka. "Charles Xavier was a hero from the first generation of quirk-users! Back then he formed the legendary team the X-Men in America! Not to mention he's the world's strongest telepath!"

Midoriya's cheeks turned beet red as he looked upon the legend. "He's also the founder and headmaster of the Marvel Academy for Gifted Youngsters, the best hero school in the Western World!"

Uraraka's eyes lit up with recognition. She had heard of the school before, which is probably where she heard the professor's name. "Oh yeah! Didn't that school train the current members of the Avenger's?"

Iida decided to join in too. "Indeed, everyone from the Iron Man to Captain America has trained there, it is quite an impressive institution! It has trained some of earths mightiest heroes, unlike that pompous Captain Celebrity they used to have over there!"

Uraraka looked back down at the man in the chair. He seemed so kind and unassuming, you'd have no idea how powerful and important he really was. "I'm pretty impressed that he can speak Japanese so fluently. If I hadn't known better I wouldn't have pegged him for a Westerner right away."

Midoriya beamed, holding a finger up matter-of-factly. "It's his quirk! His mind is so strong that he can use it to instantly translate speech! He isn't actually speaking Japanese but in our minds we can understand him perfectly!"

(Present Mic's voice-over)

Charles Xavier! His Quirk: Mind Reach! 

He's an über-powerful telepath that can read minds, freeze people, and temporarily shut down the brains of any weak-willed and troublesome villains, but his power is limited depending on his distance from others! He may be retired, but he's one golden oldie you won't want to play mind games with!

Uraraka continued to look on, more impressed than before. "I wonder what he's doing here?"

Iida turned back to the stage. "I suppose we're going to find out." Midoriya and Uraraka followed suit.

Professor Xavier began to speak. "Thank you, Principal Nezu for that lovely introduction, and I thank you, students of Yuuei High for your kind welcome, and your kind words regarding my former career."

Midoriya's eyes widened, since that remark seemed to be directed towards him. Had he heard his thoughts as they were being translated into spoken word to Uraraka? And he did so while addressing us? He really was a powerful telepath! Then, as the proverbial cherry on top, the professor seemed to wink knowingly at him! Midoriya thought he was going to have a heart attack! Maybe he could get All Might to introduce him...

"As Principal Nezu stated, I am the current headmaster of the Marvel Academy for Gifted Youngsters, a school not unlike your Yuuei that teaches young men and women how to use their quirks safely and even become a part of the next generation of great heroes."

The professor wheeled a couple feet across the stage and scanned the room. "Admittedly, given my own responsibilities, I have been unable to visit Yuuei for a great many years, but I knew that I must meet Japan's newest rising stars after witnessing your Sports Festival on television."

He watched the Sports Festival? Is that why he's here? It couldn't be for scouting, it wouldn't make sense for Yuuei to voluntarily give up any of its student body to a foreign school, and he wouldn't have come all this way just to say congratulations. What, then?

Most likely reading Midoriya's mind again, Professor Xavier seemed to respond once more as he continued. "However, I did not come all this way to your lovely country simply to give you my congratulations on your hard work. In truth, I came here with a proposition."

Professor Xavier smiled at the students, who were exchanging glances at one another in response to his words. He could hear all the questions reverberating in their heads simultaneously. "Myself, and several other faculty members at MA were fascinated by the concept of your Sports Festival. You see, this is the first time our school has really studied it, and we have never had any events of a similar nature in our own country."

The professor paused a moment and turned to Principal Nezu, and the heroes standing with him, who all looked back with enthusiasm, except for Aizawa of course. "You see, we at the Marvel Academy have decided to hold a similar tournament for our own school..."

The students seemed to collectively hang on the edges of their seats, waiting for the big mic drop.

"...and after much deliberation with your teachers, we have all decided that Yuuei will participate as well!"

There it was. The big reveal. And boy, did it sell. Looking around, Midoriya could see his peers beaming with excitement at this prospect, and there was no surprise why. This wasn't quite like the Sports Festival at Yuuei. If the professor was correct, they would be competing with another school, from America no less! A school that rivaled Yuuei in prestige and skill! It was a once in an lifetime opportunity, since no other two countries had collaborated in this way before.

This time, it was All Might's turn to join in the excitement, his jovial laughter echoing the atmosphere of the room. "HA HA HA! Yes! This will be the worlds first international school versus school tournament! Present with us are the 16 finalists of the festival, and it is you that have been chosen to represent Yuuei High! Within the next week, We will be flying you and a couple of chaperones to the United States to compete and make hero history!"

All Might sure knew how to work a crowd, the students were practically hollering with excitement now, then Mr. Aizawa decided to step in to cover the rest of the needed information.

"Settle down. All Might is correct, this is a good opportunity to test your own skills against those of a foreign country, and an expanded perspective on the international hero community can be beneficial to your career as pros in the future...yes, Kendo?"

Itsuka Kendo from Class 1-B was the one to speak up this time. "Pardon me sir, if the top 16 students from the festival were chosen for this, then why am I here? I didn't make it past the cavalry battle."

That's right, Midoriya thought. Kendo had the opportunity to move on to the finals back at the festival, but relinquished her spot to Tetsutetsu.

"Because the tournament is between two schools, it has been decided that following the normal bracket model wouldn't make sense. After all, you won't be fighting each other in this case. Therefore an odd number of students from each school was required in order to prevent a draw, and since technically your team was next up for the finals after the cavalry battle, you were nominated to be added to the roster."

"O-oh! Thank you very much, sir!" Kendo thanked Aizawa before sitting back down, a smile on her face for having been considered for this event.

"Normally, if we had the time, all of classes 1-A and 1-B would be included. However, due to the short amount of time this was organized, it makes more sense to keep the total number of students involved to a minimum. This will also mean that unlike the Sports Festival, this tournament will not be televised. And since 1 student from both Hero Support and General Studies made it to the finals, to keep things fair MA will be including 1 student from each of their respective courses as well."

Midoriya placed his hand on his chin. It made sense, since MA clearly wanted to do things differently that Yuuei, of course they would want to find a way to incorporate the courses in a unique manner as well, even if it was another tournament like the Sports Festival finals. Not to mention since there's about 20 students to a class in the hero course, the tournament would likely be too exhaustive of an effort right now.

Mr. Aizawa spoke up once more. "This will be a no-holds-barred tournament, so all costumes and equipment you carry with you is allowed. Professor Xavier was kind enough to offer living arrangements and training facilities since a portion of the student body is on summer vacation."

"Eeeee! We can wear our costumes, how cool!"

"We can use equipment, too?"

"Très magnifique!"

"Will we get to see Avengers Tower??"

"This tournament really is serious.."

"Are we going to die?"

Everyone was buzzing at this sudden liberation of the standard rules, with some overexcited and others worried that the matches could easily get out of hand.

"One more thing...All Might, Blood King, and myself will be accompanying you as your chaperones, while Thirteen, Midnight, and Ectoplasm have volunteered to act as substitutes here. I expect all of you to behave accordingly. This is a huge opportunity for everyone, so don't screw it up. That is all, everyone file outside in an ORDERLY FASHION. I'm talking to YOU, Kirishima. You have the a week to gather everything you need, and by next Saturday morning I expect all of you to join us at the airport and be ready to go."

Kirishima was definitely moping on the way back to class. "Honestly, I just feel so attacked by Mr Aizawa."

Tetsutetsu laughed all the way back, which definitely frustrated Kirishima more.

"Congratulations on being chosen for the tournament!" Yaoyorozu said to Kendo as they walked together. "I'm sure you're excited to get another chance to see some action!"

Kendo pumped her fists in the air excitedly. "Well, it's not like I got to see much action at my internship," Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes at the mention of their internship doing photoshoots with Uwabami. "But now's my chance to finally show people what I can really do! And here I thought I'd have to wait to get my second chance at next years festival!"

Midoriya walked with Uraraka and Iida of course, with the rest of their classmates peppered around them. Sometimes, they really couldn't listen to Mr. Aizawa's instruction. Uraraka couldn't contain her excitement. "Can you believe it, Deku? We're going to America! I wonder what it's like? I wonder if it's anything like the rom-coms I've seen?"

A sudden sparkle blinded them before Midoriya could respond, as Aoyama shot forth in an odd pose. "Such a city shines and twinkles just as bright as I do, but I doubt any of the students there can!" he declared with regal glee.

"You're right about one thing, there's no one quite like you, Aoyama." Ashido joked.

Iida took a more realistic approach. "I couldn't say for sure, but I imagine that the MA campus is just as prestigious as Yuuei's! What do you think, Midoriya?"

"O-oh!" Midoriya was honestly too enamored with having been within close proximity with Charles Xavier; he was disappointed he didn't get a chance to meet him. "W-well I'm just excited to see the pro heroes that work there, you know? I heard that Captain America and Wolverine are teachers there!"

"W-Wolverine!?"

Midoriya looked over to see Kaminari chattering his teeth, the slight spark of static rattling off them. "M-man I don't know if I ever want to run into him, have you heard of how brutal he is?! Those claws are insane!"

Ashido, who happened to be walking behind Kaminari, smirked as she bent down to talk directly in his ear. "Well, I'm pretty sure he retired, but I've heard that his daughter's enrolled in the hero course! You're not scared of going up against her, are you Kaminari?" She poked him in the back mimicking the famous heroes claws, and he rocketed up in the air with a yelp, prompting a laugh from the rest of the class. Even Todoroki managed a chuckle.

Kirishima then turned to Bakugou. "What do you think, Mister First-Place Winner? You already know you're probably going to go up against some strong quirks, you excited or what?"

Bakugou sneered at Kirishima, he hated thinking about the festival. Everyone was looking at Bakugou now, and while he didn't really want to be a part of the group discussion, he balled his dominant hand into a fist and a dangerous grin crept on his face. "I just hope these Marvel chumps actually give me a challenge...this East versus West tournament will be so much sweeter when I crush them like the bugs they are!" Bakugou shot a look to Todoroki.

Everyone sighed, since no one was really surprised at Bakugou's answer. "I'm sure they ALL have impressive quirks." Todoroki said, ignoring Bakugou's hostility.

"Honestly, couldn't you show even a slight hint of restraint?" Tokoyami remarked disapprovingly.

"The East versus West Tournament, huh? That's a pretty good name." Uraraka thought aloud.

Midoriya couldn't help but get pumped by everyones determination, even Kacchan's. Midoriya looked to the sky as he thought ahead to the days to come. With a determined look exchanged to his friends, they continued to the classroom, eager to prepare. The East versus West Tournament was on the horizon!

_**This was the first chapter in the BNHA x Marvel crossover! Don't worry, more familiar faces from the comic world will be making an appearance very soon! Excluding certain students sucks, but the majority of the story shouldn't focus on one on one matches between 20 students, and I wanted to include Class 1-B as well, not to mention the new characters! Don't want to get too crowded! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and are looking forward to more!**_

_**Is there anything you are looking forward to or want to see in the future? Let me know in the comments!**_

_**COMING UP NEXT: THE JOURNEY BEGINS! WHAT AWAITS ACROSS THE SEA?**_


	2. 2 - The Journey Begins!

The rest of the day came and went as usual, but everyones minds were towards America, the prospect of a brand new experience on their journey to becoming heroes. When Midoriya and his friends went to get their stuff from the classroom, they were surprised to see some familiar faces standing outside. There, talking to Kaminari was none other than Hitoshi Shinso, the brainwasher of the General Studies course, and to his right, with Ashido and Sero looking over her shoulder as she tinkered with a control console, was Mei Hatsume of the Support course. Given the nature of their previous encounters, Midoriya wasn't entirely sure how to feel about seeing them again, but he figured that the polite thing to do would be to talk to them, especially since he didn't want to be mind-controlled again by Shinso.

"Shinso! Hatsume!" Midoriya called out from down the hall, and the two students turned to him.

Shinsou smirked immediately with recognition of the boy that bested him at the Sports Festival. "Well well, Izuku Midoriya. It's good to see you again."

Midoriya was slightly taken aback. "I-it is??"

Shinsou chuckeled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to use my quirk on you. You beat me fair and square back then. Besides I don't think we should be fighting now that we're on the same side."

"S-so you're really gonna be fighting in the East versus West Tournament, huh?" Midoriya stammered.

Shinso scratched the back his head, his sunken eyes glancing at the other students in the room. "Is that what they're calling it? Yeah I guess I was the obvious choice, given how far I went in the festival. I'm just hoping I can use this new chance and make something more from it for once."

Midorya smiled and nodded. Shinso has a powerful quirk, there was no reason he couldn't get the same chance to be a hero as anyone else. He understood that more than anyone.

Shinso lowered his arm and looked Midoriya in the eye. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by how you bypassed my quirk, even if I don't know how you did it in the first place."

Midoriya gulped. He really hoped this wouldn't turn into another inquiry about his quirk. He already had to deal with his own class in that respect. Not even All Might could completely explain with certainty what had occurred during the fight with Shinso. The last thing Midoriya's frequently erratic brain needed was to play 20 questions about One-for-All.

The purple-haired teen looked at the ground, a look of resolve in his eye. "Ever since that day, I continued to fight for my dream, to become a hero; I've been doing a lot to prepare for the day I'd get another shot." He looked back up at Midoriya, his grin returning. "But who'd have thought my second chance would come so soon? I guess I have you to thank for reigniting my fighting spirit."

Midoriya smirked back at Shinso. "You should never give up on your dreams, not even when the odds are stacked against you. I'm glad you haven't given up!"

Midoriya then turned to the pink haired girl leaning on the doorway. "I bet you're excited too, huh, Hatsume?"

The tinkerer stopped what she was doing and looked up at Midoriya. After an odd amount of staring, she cocked her head to the side. "Who are you, again?"

Midoriya sighed. He knew the girl was aloof, but they had only met a few weeks ago! Her memory was jogged after he reminded her of the cavalry battle.

"Ohh, yeah." She brushed it off without interest until she noticed Iida. "You! I remember you! Thank you for modeling my babies for me!" She said with a wink.

Iida was so flustered when he remembered how she had humiliated him during their match, and he was suddenly waving and pointing his hands the way he did when he scolded. "Could you not be so disrespectful? That type of behavior will not be tolerated in our class!"

Hatsume placed a hand on her hip. "Coulda fooled me. Looks like you have plenty of clowns in the hero course, especially the electric guy over there. Guess you're doing a bang up job as the class rep, huh?"

Midoriya thought Iida would explode, he hadn't seen his friend so exasperated before. Perhaps was best to change the subject before she pushed his buttons any further, she was being way too outspoken for Iida's sake. Luckily Uraraka decided to step in. "Well, I'm sure we've all got our work cut out for us. I bet the Support Course at MA is crazy awesome!"

Hatsume's eyes suddenly glittered with jovial rays, the crosshairs in her irises shrinking, so intense they made everyone back away a couple of steps. "OH you have NO IDEA! Iron Man AND Ant-Man graduated from that course!! SO many iconic costumes and gadgets have been designed at that school! I even heard that Tony Stark built one of his first armors-"

Shinso managed to get a few words in, interupting Hatsume before she flew off the rails, which frustrated her enough to return her focus to whatever she was working on. "We're all very excited. I also figured since we're all going to represent Yuuei, it couldn't hurt to get to know my comrades. I managed to convince monkey wrench over here to come along when I told her studying everyones quirks would make for good support gear inspiration, but she got bored when everyone got freaked out when she invaded their personal space. She kept trying to take everyones measurements, you know?"

Hatsume rolled her eyes at Shinso's remark, muttering to herself about requiring constant updates for her subjects, but he continued nonetheless. "Regardless, with her skill I'm sure she'll be a fine asset to the team, even if she does lack combat experience. Anyway, we should be getting home, got a lot to prepare for, you know? I'll see you at the airport Midoriya. It was nice to see not everyone in 1-A is an ass."

With a simple wave, Shinso made his way down the hall, Hatsume not far behind, nearly running into the wall repeatedly since she wasn't looking where she was going. Iida walked into class, happy to have ended the interaction, while Midoriya shook his head and smiled. He was glad he was on good terms with Shinso, and he was glad to see Hatsume again, even if she was pretty unhinged and invasive. The others as a whole (excluding Bakugo of course) had a much higher opinion of Shinso now that they got to talk to him.

"I never liked her."

Midoriya turned around and was surprised to see that his best friends cheeks were a deep red. "I-I know you two didn't really get along well during the cavalry battle, but she's actually pretty cool, and since we're on the same team, maybe it wouldn't hurt to act nice...?"

Uraraka raised an eyebrow at Midoriya. He knew it wasn't like her to get angry at someone like this, but he wrote it off as Uraraka not taking to Hatsume's personality. "If you say so, Deku. I just think that girls nothing but trouble." She stormed off into the classroom, and Midoriya couldn't understand why she was so bothered. Shrugging his shoulders, he followed her into class.

The following week until Saturday was generally uneventful. This was normally time off, but now time was spent on conversations about the upcoming tournament, the students they'd have to fight, the heroes they'd meet, the places they'd visit, equipment and supplies they needed. The students that couldn't come were understandably jealous, but wished their friends well. Midoriya couldn't help but think about these things too. On Friday, Midoriya decided to have lunch with All Might at the school. He had a lot of questions for his mentor.

They ate in the teachers break room, All Might in his powered-down form. The two sat across form one another as the Symbol of Peace poured his student some tea.

"You wanna know about Professor Xavier? To be honest kid, I don't really know too much other than what I've heard. This is actually the only time I've ever met him in person. I've spent so much time with hero work here these days that I don't typically have the time to work overseas."

Midoriya frowned in disappointment. The professor had to fly back to MA shortly after the announcement, so he had never gotten a chance to meet with Midoriya.

All Might could read the One-for-All successor like a book, and smiled as he poured his tea. "I have met Captain America and Captain Marvel several times, however."

Midoriya suddenly shot up from his seat. "S-seriously?!"

All Might smirked knowingly. "Ohh yeah, we went on several missions together back in the day. Cap's as heroic as they come, a great man, with an even better right hook!" All Might swung his right arm in the air, mimicking a right hook as if he were holding a shield. "If I remember correctly, he's the Hero Training Instructor at MA. I'm sure I could introduce you."

Midoriya nearly fell out of his seat. "Are you kidding?! That would be so cool! After you Captain America is the most respected hero in the world! And what about Captain Marvel??"

The mention of the Supernova Heroine caused All Might to pause, nursing his tea in his hands.

"Ah, Carol..."

That was when Midoriya suddenly noticed that All Might's smile was different somehow...was he that enamored by the sound of her real name? "Now that woman is a spitfire. When we first met, we actually traded blows. A big misunderstanding. If I remember correctly she had only just discovered her quirk. It's typical for a lot of people in the West to discover their quirks pretty late, so she was pretty freaked out. Anyway we became good partners after that, and I'd always lend a hand whenever I was in the country."

Midoriya was scared to ask, it didn't seem appropriate, but for some reason he did anyway. "A-all Might? Did you...like her?"

All Might stopped for a moment, then he laughed so hard. he nearly spilled his tea all over the floor. "Man, Midoriya, you sound like a 12 year old asking me about my crush!" Midoriya was red with embarrassment until his mentor finally calmed down. "Don't worry, you're not overstepping any boundaries here. In truth, I did have very strong feelings about her, but after my big fight with All for One, it became more and more difficult to see her. Things just kind of fell apart from there."

Midoriya frowned. He put All Might on a pedestal so often that he tended to forget that he is a person like anyone else. He found it difficult to imagine his idol and teacher living a normal life. An image of All Might wearing an apron and holding a baby with All Might's face in a kitchen laughing together popped in Midoriya's head. The teen shuddered at the thought.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that.."

All Might suddenly perked up. "Don't sweat it kid, it was a long time ago! You want my advice, when you're ready for a relationship young Midoriya, find a woman like her. Kind, but with a hell of a strong spirit. A real spitfire of your own. She'll put you through hell, but there'll be no one better to have at your side."

Watching All Might take a long sip of his tea, Midoriya looked down in his cup at his reflection, and thought about what his mentor just said. For some reason, he kept thinking about Uraraka...

When Saturday morning came, Midoriya was pretty frantic. If his mom hadn't woken him up, he doubted he would have made the flight. He blamed himself for wanting to rest, he had a hard time sleeping lately. As he gathered his backpack and travel suitcase at the front door, he looked at the scars on his right hand and clenched them into a fist. He hoped with Full Cowling and Gran Torino's training he had enough control over One-for-All to properly represent his school.

"Izuku! Did you pack everything? You remembered your toothbrush, right? Do you need a new toothbrush?" Midoriya turned towards his mother and smiled, her tendency to worry about him as endearing as always. "Yeah mom, I remembered. Besides, I'm running late, no sense in buying supplies now."

Inko wasn't deterred. "Okay...did you remember your All Might pillow? I know you're restless in your sleep without it..." Midoriya's face flushed and his eyes opened. "M-mom! I don't use that anymore, besides I'm in high school now...pro heroes don't use cartoon pillows to help them sleep!"

Inko sighed and she gave her son a big hug. "I-I'm sorry son, I'm just worried is all. New York City is so far away, are you sure you'll be all right?"

Midoriya hugged her back. "Well I'll be with my friends, and All Might is going to come with us, so we have nothing to worry about! I really should go, I need to get to the airport before they leave without me."

Midoriya and his mother parted, having reassured her, tears still drenching the floor as he entered the cab.

When he finally arrived, he was relieved to find the class was still boarding the plane. The school was getting their own private jet to fly them, so its a wonder Midoriya managed to get there at all, especially since it was supposed to leave 10 minutes ago.

Unsurprisingly, Kaminari was the first to speak up. He never was much of a thinker. "Hey, look! Guess Midoriya decided to show up after all! Jeez, I know the last tournament took a lot out of us, but man, you'd think that you of all people would have arrived on time!" Midoriya blushed with embarrassment.

Yaoyorozu disapproved of comments of this nature, and decided to intervene. "Speak for yourself, Kaminari. At least Midoriya lasted longer in his match than you did." She was as blunt as their classmate Asui, and Ashido couldn't help but join in. "Yeah, at least Midoriya didn't have such a dumb look on his face because of his quirk when he lost!" She added as she tried to keep herself from laughing at the electricity-users face when he fried his brain from using his quirk.

Kaminari jumped back like he was being backed into a corner. "Hey, chill guys, I was just messing with him!"

Midoriya wasn't sure if he should be flattered that the girls basically called his tournament loss a lot cooler than Kaminari's, but he decided not to dwell on it.

Mr. Aizawa was still chaperoning students inside when he noticed Midoriya stumble his way over with his luggage. "Midoriya, tardiness is unacceptable. If you're serious about becoming a hero, you can't expect the world to wait on you to take care of your priorities."

Midoriya bowed profusely in apology. "ImsososorryMisterAizawaIoversleptonaccidentbutluckilythakstomymomIgotmehereontimeandIbarelymadeittothetrainbutImherenowitwonthappenagainIswear-"

"Calm down Midoriya, you're here now. Let's board so we can be on our way already." Aizawa stopped the stammering teen, ready to take off instead of listening to Midoriya's guilt-ramblings. He wasn't looking forward to being stuck in the air with his students for the next 13 hours.

Iida and Uraraka were waiting at the back of the line and waved Midoriya over. "Hey, Deku! I'm so glad you made it! Iida and I were worried you'd miss the flight!" Uraraka exclaimed.

Iida concurred. "Yes, it is fortunate you are here now. The runway was backed up, so the plane did not land on time. Regardless, Uraraka and I insisted on waiting for your arrival!"

Midoriya smiled with relief. He really did have amazing friends. "T-thanks guys. I guess now that I'm here, we should board, yeah?"

Iida nodded and Uraraka grabbed his hand in excitement. "Let's do it! New York City, here we come!"

She led Midoriya to the plane, and he couldn't help but blush. She insisted he sit next to her. He remembered his doubtful thoughts the previous week, and Midoriya wondered if he was truly ready to continue on this path to becoming a hero. He decided to table those thoughts for now as he looked out the window at all the planes taking off. All of that thinking could wait for later, and he shared a smile of encouragement with his best friend as the students of Yuuei High steeled themselves for the new adventure that awaited them.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the North Atlantic...

"I see...thank you for the information, All for One. I will be sure to put it to good use."

The lean man engulfed in shadow ended his communications with the leader of Japan's League of Villains, returning to his seat. He turned back towards the dozens of monitors in front of him, shifting his yellowed eyes to each one, darting back and forth. From behind him a short, mechanical man with a projection on its chest hobbled over to the chair, which stood a few steps up from where he stood. From his view the chair itself towered over the meek metal frame.

The projection on the robot spoke in crackling, nasally voice muffled by static. "Supreme, good news, I trust?"

The seated figure gestured with a raised hand to address his subordinate without even turning. "Indeed. I have received words from our allies in Japan. Students from Yuuei High will be visiting the Marvel Academy."

His voice was hoarse and dry, the sound of wet smacking lips slurring his accent, making it indiscernible. There was a nauseating stickiness to it, like his tongue was forced to constantly lubricate his lips, lest they shrivel and fall apart. He seemed to growl with anticipation.

The robotic figure cringed at the sound of his superiors crooning. "No doubt that troublesome All Might is with them. He would never leave his precious students so far away from his care. This could be real trouble for us."

"No." The Supreme stopped him. "We will continue as planned. See it as having the opportunity for more test subjects, Dr. Zola."

Zola thought for a moment. "Yes...I enjoy the idea of those prospects. I've heard rather interesting things about those Yuuei students. So...we shall begin moving forward?"

"No, not yet. For now I would like to observe the proceedings."

Zola grimaced. "For the sake of planning accordingly, or to satiate your own curiosity?"

Unseen to the doctor, the Supreme grinned wildly, his smile misshapen, parts of his lips melted into his gums. Such sights should not be seen by human eyes. "Mmm...perhaps a bit of both?" He retorted playfully. "While unexpected, this could prove useful to us..."

Gazing at the monitors through gaping holes, pupils fixated on every pixel, his grin cracking wide open as his calloused hands tugged at the taut, ragged fabric on his face.

"Soon...the rat that has done this to me will pay...in blood!"

**_Authors Note: This chapter was a little shorter, but I really want to get to the Marvel students in the next chapter. As for our mysterious new villain? Well, you'll just have to wait and see._**

**_COMING UP NEXT - ENTER: THE MARVEL ACADEMY! FRIENDSHIPS AND RIVALRIES ARISE!_**


	3. 3 - Enter: The Marvel Academy!

"Helloooo?"

The boy stirred not wanting to wake up yet.

"Miles!"

There was a ringing in his ears as he felt a forceful flick on his forehead. With a gasp he stumbled from his position on the ceiling and was jolted awake, falling to the floor below. Miles Morales groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He had hoped to get more sleep, especially after how late last nights patrol went. As he and his mentor found out, the Kingpin's men don't have a tendency to take nights off and reschedule their heists for the sake of Miles beauty sleep. "Yeah, yeah, I'm up alright?"

He looked up at his friend Kamala. Kamala Khan that is, or Ms. Marvel if she preferred at the moment. Apparently she had enlarged her hand and stretched up to the ceiling to wake him up. She had found Miles sleeping on the ceiling in the Academy lounge, which he only ever did if he didn't want to be disturbed. She knew him too well. Too bad, he'd have to suck it up, which is exactly what he did when he saw the serious scowl on her face. It was like she was his mother and he had stolen a cookie from the cookie jar.

She huffed. "There you are! You know how long I've been looking for you? 35 minutes!"

"It would have been 30 but we stopped to get snacks."

Miles looked past Kamala where his other best friend Sam Alexander, aka Nova, stood gorging on one of those jumbo sized barbecue potato chips. Miles had no idea where the guy put all of this food all the time.

Kamala redirected her scowl to Sam. "You mean YOU did, pig."

Sam let out a "Ha!", crumbs flying out of his mouth as Miles got himself up off the ground. "Careful araña, she's in a mood today!"

Kamala turned up her nose. "Only because you seem to be the only one not taking this seriously!" She turned back to Miles, now at eye level with her. "How could you be sleeping with everything that's been going on?"

Miles brushed Sam's crumbs off of his red and black hoodie. "I was busy chasing Kingpins goons with Spidey last night..." Spider-Man was the pro hero Miles interned under. MA had started their internships roughly around the same time as Yuuei, but typically lasted throughout the year, something more like a work study.

Kamala sighed, interrupting Miles drowsy explanation. "Another late night? Seriously Miles, I'm starting to think you never sleep, you seem to be spending less time in your dorm and more on patrol!"

Sam crunched another 15 chips in his mouth. "Hey, Kamala, don't be so hard on him. He just wants to be a hero as bad as the rest of us."

Miles shrugged. "Sam's right, I'm just trying to keep up. It's not like you've never pulled an all-nighter before."

Kamala sighed again, softer this time as she inspected the bags under her wall-crawling friends eyes. "I know that, and I'm not saying your determination is a bad thing. I'm just saying don't push yourself so hard."

Sam coughed up another cloud of barbecue dusted crumbs. "Eh, you look like crap actually."

Miles turned suddenly to Sam as he stretched his arms back behind his head. "What, you're on her side now?" He looked at Kamala's concern which she wore so blatantly on her face. He suddenly realized his vision of her was slightly foggy. He was more tired than he thought. He shrugged, seceding the argument. "Okay, maybe you're right. But if that's the case, why did you wake me up?"

Kamala scowled again at the absurdity of the question. Even Sam looked confused at Miles. "Dude, you don't remember?"

Miles looked confused now. "Remember what?"

Kamala placed her hand on her face in annoyance. "Jeez, were you asleep in assembly, too?"

Assembly..? It all came back to him suddenly. "Oh crap, that's right! Those guys from the Japanese school are coming in today!"

The previous week Professor Xavier announced the upcoming tournament Yuuei High. He had been so excited, but never got the chance to think about it since he's been so focused on hero work.

Kamala nodded sarcastically. "Yeeess Miles, the UA students. Their plane will be landing within the hour and Carol wants all the students to meet in the common room so we can greet them when they arrive!"

Miles raised an eyebrow. "You guys are on a first name basis now?" He was talking about Carol Danvers, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, and moreover Kamala's mentor as Captain Marvel.

Kamala appeared slightly embarrassed, breaking her wall of stoicism. "Well...I probably shouldn't have just now...but I figured since we're trusted colleagues now and not just teacher and student..."

Miles smiled and raised his hand to stop her. "Hey, you don't have to explain yourself, I do it with Spidey all the time. I think after all of our training we've earned that much." He never called his mentor "Peter" in public though. Being one of the few pro heroes that actually kept a secret identity, he was forbidden to reveal it to anyone.

Kamala smiled back. "Well, as long as we're on the same page, we should get going. Do you need to freshen up?"

Miles yawned as they started walking. "No, I wasn't asleep long anyways."

Sam crunched a little more frustratingly. "At least you guys are familiar with your mentors. I've got to shadow the android, and he doesn't even have a first name! I mean, what do you call the guy? Vision, or Mister Vision?"

The MA students didn't get a choice in where they interned. They were chosen by pro hero nominations as well as which pro hero was compatible with their quirk. The idea of carrying on a hero's legacy with similar names and quirks was pretty common, but kids like Sam (who's potential mentor, the previous Nova, had died in the line of duty) couldn't train under the heroes they wanted to. While it worked out that Miles and Kamala were given the agencies they wanted, others had to work with what the faculty decided for them. Somehow Sam was deemed compatible with the Vision.

Sam grunted. "I just don't get it! The guy doesn't even laugh at my jokes! Guess they forgot to program it into him..."

Kamala frowned at Sam. "You know, you should be a little more respectful towards our teachers." She paused a moment before she looked back at him. "So, what do you call him?"

Sam gulped down his mouthful of chips and a smug grin formed across his face. "Heh, I just call him Mr. Roboto. He doesn't seem to mind."

Miles laughed, not at his friends joke but at the fact Kamala was trying her damnedest not to give Sam the satisfaction of a chuckle. Leaving the lounge, they crossed the central courtyard outside of the Xavier Mansion. The building itself was actually an extension of the old mansion from the 40's, retrofitted with dormitories and modern amenities by Tony Stark and Hank Pym. The mansion itself was at the center of MA campus, in front of the central courtyard that acted as the crossroads leading to all of the academic buildings. Walking to the fountain at the center of the courtyard, where a huge stone carving of the school insignia (an X with a circle around it) floated in a microgravity field, Miles noticed a couple of classmates sitting nearby. "Yo! Franklin! Valeria!"

Sitting at the fountain were the star siblings of MA, Franklin and Valeria Richards; Valeria had her nose in some kind of physics book while Franklin was telekinetically swirling a handful of water around his fingers. They were the children of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, the world famous members of the Fantastic Four. Students that were a part of some great heroic lineage were pretty common at MA too, but these siblings were probably the most famous. Franklin saw his peers and smiled, signaling them with a raised arm. "Yo Miles! What's up Sam? Kamala? On your way to the common room?"

Kamala waved back. "Yep. Would have gone sooner but Spider-Boy here was totally knocked out."

Miles hated when she called him that.

Valeria didn't even bother looking up. "At least you have your friend with you. He'd be there now as well, if Franklin hadn't insisted on waiting for Tommy."

Franklin looked annoyed at his twin sister. "Tommy's my friend, and I'd promised to wait for him!"

Valeria shifted her eyes towards Franklin. "You know he's always late. If he wasn't such a dunderhead, he might actually use his quirk to be on time for once."

Franklin was about to snap back when Sam sidled up to Valeria to make one of his infamous attempts at flirting. "Yo, Valeria! Been a while. You know, I've been having trouble in my physics classes. Seeing as you're the MA genius, maybe later you can come over and tutor me in the laws of motion?" He wore a sly grin as he winked at the girl, prompting everyone else to simultaneously roll their eyes and groan.

Of course, Valeria was not having any of it. Annoyed, she looked up from her book at Sam. "Sure, Sam. Newton's Third Law: every action must have an equal and opposite reaction; let me show you."

In the blink of an eye Sam was encased in a force-field and lifted several feet in the air above the fountain. Below, Valeria smirked, her hair floating up and a hand outstretched. "Well, maybe it's a little more than equal, but who's keeping score?"

Valeria Richards! Her Quirk: Force-Field!

She can mentally create energy structures into any shape she can imagine! She needs to see an object to build a force-field around it, and their strength depends on her total concentration!

Sam looked visibly frightened as he banged on the transparent bubble, that is until it actually popped, and it would have dropped Sam into the fountain. That is, until a flash of light emanated from his legs and he managed to stop himself. He laughed, hands on his waist in a heroic (and cocky) pose. "Ha! Guess you forgot I could fly, huh? Not so easy to get the drop on the Meteoritic Hero Nova-"

Sam's boasting was interrupted when the entire fountain erupted, soaking Sam in a sudden wave, sending him plummeting into the water below. Everyone laughed as Franklin lowered the water back into the fountain. "You should know better than to hit on my sister, Sam." He said with a chuckle.

Just at a glance of the siblings quirks Miles wondered why the two even bothered enrolling at MA in the first place. The kids of Reed Richards hardly needed the education, particularly in Valeria's case, especially when they were off on some sort of inter-dimensional adventure with their family or whatever, but he didn't question it. But damn, did these two scare him, and he had Reyes and Starsmore in his class. At least Valeria was enrolled in the Support Course; she preferred her genius intellect over her quirk for the most part. Otherwise she would have passed the entrance exam with relative ease.

Miles helped Sam up as he shook water off of his clothes, heating up his body to dry faster. "Aww man! Dude didn't have to be like that, I was just being friendly!"

Miles laughed. "Dude, you being 'friendly' is going to get you in trouble one of these days!"

A sudden gust whooshed around the group and a young silver-haired boy in a green and white motorcycle jacket stood on the top of the "X" of the fountain. "Hey! Sorry I'm late!"

Everyone looked up at Tommy Shepard, aka Speed, the fastest kid alive (according to himself). Franklin waved at him. "Yo Tommy glad you made it!" Valeria wasn't amused. "You're late."

With a wave of his hand and a flashy smile, he hopped down in front of Valeria. "Sorry V, took the scenic route. We doing this thing or what?" She hated it when he called her V. With a groan, she just started walking off from the group. "You guys are going to. This meeting is for the Hero Course. I've got projects to work on. I'll see you around." The group watched her walk off, and suddenly in the blink of an eye Tommy popped in front of Miles. "YoMilesKamalajeezSamwhatdyoudohitonVagainyoureallyneedtoupyourgamewellIllseeyouinthecommonroom!" With that he rushed ahead of Franklin, who attempted to catch up.

Kamala turned to Miles and Sam in confusion. "Uh, did you get any of that?" Miles shrugged. "Not a word. He's an even faster talker than Sam." Ready to walk, Sam made sure he was dry enough, and followed along with his friends.

Arriving in the common room in the main hall of the Xavier Mansion, Kamala sighed because they were the last to arrive. Miles scanned the room at the Class 1-A/1-B students.

Franklin and Tommy were already engaged in conversation with Scott Summers and Danielle Cage to their left. Looking to his right, he saw Jubilee with her brother, apart from the crowd as always, and Gabrielle Kinney was just sitting on the couch with Vivian Shade and Robbie Reyes, being the strong and silent types. In the center of the room, Hiro Hamada was showing off Baymax, while Eli Bradley and David Alleyne stood by silently interested. In the back, Miles could see Tandy Bowen with her boyfriend Tyrone Johnson. Tyrone seemed to be especially broody today. There was also a sandy-blonde girl standing against the wall by herself, her eyes shifting to each of the students around her. The hero course had too many brooding heroes, but this girl he had never seen before.

"Kamala!"

The trio froze at the commanding voice behind them. Slowly turning around they were faced with the intimidating figure of Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, their homeroom teacher. "It's not like you to be late. What took you?" She was so stern, and the three young heroes were frightened at her fiery eyes and rushed to explain themselves.

"I'm so so sorry Ms. Danvers I was on my way but Miles was asleep in the lounge and it's his fault I got here late!"

"Miss Danvers, don't get mad at Kamala, I...wait what?"

"I JUST WANTED SOME CHIIIIPS!"

Ms. Danvers looked at her pleading students with a blank look, then out of nowhere she bursted into sweet laughter. The students looked at her dumbfounded until she collected herself and smiled at them. "Don't freak out kids, I was just pulling your leg! The UA plane left a little late so they're not arriving yet."

Miles and Sam sighed while Kamala pouted. "That was a rotten thing to do Carol...I was really freaking out!"

Carol smiled and placed her hand on her protégés shoulder, it was amazing how she could switch between being kind to blast-your-head-off scary. "It's like I tell you, you need to let loose every now and again, you can't be all work and no play. And remember, at school it's Ms. Danvers." Kamala nodded, embarrassed.

Then she turned to the boys. "As for you two, you need to master the art of time management. It seems that every time something's going on Miles is too tired from his patrols and Sam is too hungry!"

It was the boys turn to blush in embarrassment, the two apologizing together to the cosmic Avenger. "It's ok you two, you're here after all. Oh, and I hope you're ready to give this everything you've got! UA is Japan's top hero school, and you can bet they won't go down easy!"

Sam perked up. "Hey, yeah, didn't you date All Might from UA?"

Kamala elbowed Sam. Hard. However Ms. Danvers was a patient woman and didn't appear bothered by his directness. "Ah, Toshinori..." She thought back to the Symbol of Peace. "While it really isn't any of your business, Mister Alexander, I was in fact close to All Might back in the day."

Eager to change the subject, Miles decided to ask her a question. "Hey, Ms. Danvers? I noticed that students from class 1-X and 1-Y are here. Hiro from 1-Z is here too. Is there a reason why that is?"

Miles yelped. It was his turn to get elbowed by Kamala. "Hey, Kamala, what gives?!"

She shook her head and huffed. "You really don't pay attention, do you? UA is bringing the finalists from their sports festival, which consists of students from different classes. It's only fair that MA mixes up their roster as well!"

Captain Marvel smiled at her protegé. "That's exactly right! Now pay attention Miles, I have to gather the rest of the students."

Miles watched her fly off to the front of the room, where Class 1-B homeroom teacher Luke Cage and the Hero Training Instructor Steve Rogers greeted her. The sound of Kamala calling Sam a "knucklehead" was behind him.

Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, addressed the students. "Listen up, everyone! As I'm sure you are all aware, our guests from UA High will be arriving today! Each of you were either picked for this tournament by lottery or faculty recommendations. If we chose you to be a part of this, you have even more reason to represent our school with respect and honor! There is no reason to slack off. No matter what class you're from, you all have just as much reason to be your best! This is Japan's top hero school! This is an excellent opportunity for everyone to show the world what you can do, whether you are in the hero course or not! So let's give them our all!"

The students cheered in response, while Miles was deep in thought. The top hero school in Japan, huh? He wondered what the UA students were like...

An Hour Later...

"Hey! Get Bakugo off of him!"

"Is he crazy? What's that guy thinking?"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY TO ME SPIDER-BASTARD?!?!?!? DIE!!!!"

**_Uh-oh! Looks like Bakugou is already itching to pick a fight with the new students! However, it doesn't look like the students of MA will be taking this lying down. Is the prospect of a friendly competition completely blown up? _**

**_COMING SOON: NEW FRIENDSHIPS AND RIVALRIES: KATSUKI BAKUGOU AND ROBBIE REYES!_**


	4. 4 - New Friends, Rivalries, and Reunions

The flames danced across the landscape, scalding the earth underneath torn-up concrete into crackling ash. Thick, black smoke swirled into the sky, carrying the stench of fiery death and destruction up from the gaping wounds of the buildings.

Parting the veil of smoke, a figure hovered above the scene, the hum of his jets in tune with the crackling wreckage. Tony Stark, the Iron Man, prided himself in his ability to keep calm under pressure, but he hadn't seen anything like this in years. Lowering himself to the ground, he scanned his surroundings. "JARVIS, you getting anything on the scanners?"

His suits A.I. responded in kind. "Multi-spectrum scanning is proving difficult, sir. It is highly unlikely whoever was responsible did not wish to leave any evidence behind."

"Damn." Tony muttered under his breath. "This was the best lead we've had on AIM in months. We had good intel that Killian was going to be at this arms deal."

Avengers International had been after the Advanced Idea Mechanic's leader Aldrich Killian for months. Last week they had received a tip from a reliable source that he was going to attend an arms deal with the Maggia (international crime syndicate) at a facility near the Texas-Mexican border. "JARVIS, is there any way anyone else could have gotten this intel? If I remember correctly this deal was supposed to be top secret."

"It is entirely possible sir. While we obtained this intel through SHIELD channels, it is more than likely a man of Mister Killian's immense popularity attracted many interested crowds."

"True," Tony remarked. "Killian always was a prick, but for the sake of putting off the paperwork, I'm hoping this was just a deal gone bad. Still nothing on the scanners?"

"I am detecting multiple objects of interest 15 feet to your left." JARVIS replied. Tony began walking in the direction JARVIS instructed. "Unfortunately, the high temperature of the immediate area is still interfering with the infrared scanners, I cannot completely identify them."

Tony stopped short, looking down. If he wasn't wearing his helmet, you would see the beads of sweat on his face. "No need, buddy. I think I know what they are."

At Tony's feet was what was left of a human body, half of one at least. It was not cut, rather it looked like someone or something had torn the man apart, burnt flesh at the corpses abdomen ragged at an upward angle where his insides were splayed out. Looking up, he could then see where the lower half had been tossed aside, not more than 10 feet away, and in every other direction were the rest. The rest of the bodies, that is. Broken, dismembered, burned, what was once men had been completely eviscerated. Looking closely, he could identify the yellow uniforms adorning many of them.

"It would appear we have located the AIM operatives. The other bodies are low-level members of the Maggia according to the SHIELD criminal database."

"Call the tower, tell Nat to send over a couple of Quinjets...and a clean-up crew."

"Yes sir. It may take some time, but it is possible we can identify Aldrich Killian among the the more...unrecognizable bodies."

"No." Tony said. "Killian may be Quirkless, but he's not dead. The only reason he wouldn't be is because he's valuable, and the only reason he's valuable is because he's smart."

JARVIS finished Tony's thought. "A kidnapping then, sir?"

"If it is, it's a very messy one." Tony knelt to inspect the body in front him, happy that his helmet filtered out the smell of burnt flesh. "Clearly the person or persons that did this had some crazy strong Quirks. The question isn't what, it's who and why..."

Scanning the body of the AIM operative, Tony could see from his uniform markings that he was a high-ranking scientist. Continuing his search, JARVIS managed to highlight a gruesome detail.

"Sir, I am detecting unusual lesions consistent with chemical burns concentrated on his chest."

"Let me get a closer look, JARVIS." Zooming in on the corpses upper left pectoral, Tony shuddered at what he saw. Scar tissue, in the shape of a handprint, that had been burned into the muscle, leaving the flesh dark pink and bubbling with a white substance. What's worse, it looked like the material of the suit had been fused with the flesh, as if whatever burned this man was so corrosive and intense it had not only broken through the suit, it bonded the two foreign objects on a molecular level.

Taking a sample of the white substance, he started wondering if he should install puke bags in his helmet. "JARVIS, call Steve. Now."

2 hours earlier...

The Yuuei plane landed at JFK International Airport around 12:30 pm. The rumbling as they touched down on the runway jarred Midoriya from his rest. "Hm? Huh?" The green-haired boy rubbed his eyes as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth. "Mm...Uraraka? What's going on?"

Uraraka turned to him excitedly, but calmed herself as she saw her best friend still wrestling out of the throes of slumber. "Hey, Deku! We just arrived! I didn't want to wake you since you looked like you were having a nice nap!"

He smiled dumbly at her. She was always sweet to him. After a moment he had registered what she had just said. "Wait...WHAT?? WE'RE HERE??" He eagerly reached over Uraraka to look out the window, and sure enough in the distance the skyline of New York City loomed in the distance, the urban landscape glittering in the midday sun.

"Oh wow! Uraraka! I can see a bit of Avengers Tower from here! It's the most advanced Hero Headquarters in the world!"

His classmates shared in their excitement, not waiting for the pilot to give the go ahead to unbuckle their seat belts to crowd to Midoriya's side of the plane, gazing at the minuscule view.

After Aizawa and Vlad King settled everyone down, the students continued to speculate on what waited for them as they gathered their bags and exited the plane. All Might had insisted on taking a later flight as he settled a few things back at school before they left, but Midoriya knew his mentors condition was the real reason he would come on his own. Walking down the steps, surrounded by a security detail was the familiar smiling face of Professor X.

"Welcome, students of UA High! I hope your flight was comfortable!"

"As comfortable as could be. None of these kids have flown before, much less in a private jet." Vlad King answered on their behalf.

"Hopefully this kind of treatment won't get to their heads. I'm not afraid to say I'm not a fan of this kind of pampering." Aizawa added, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Well now, I don't think this is too much, Mister Aizawa. I don't blame you for not particularly enjoying being in a single space with your students for too long."

Aizawa furrowed his brow, looking away from the Professor. "I'm not a fan of my mind being read either without my permission, no offense."

The students watched the scene in awe. "No way! He really DOES read minds!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"Man, I'd hate to be one of his students." Kaminari whispered to Sero. "You wouldn't be able to hide anything from him! Kinda creepy."

Yaoyorozu walked behind the two boys. "Since you never think before you talk, I don't think you have anything to worry about. You should more respectful to our hosts."

The class gasped in surprise at the sudden sass displayed by Yaoyorozu, which was rare outside of her teaching Mineta a lesson. Kaminari bashfully shut his mouth as Aizawa called the class to attention.

"All right everyone, from this moment on, we are the guests of Professor Xavier and the faculty and students of MA. Since we're in a foreign country, I encourage you to treat them with respect. We are in their capable hands now."

Aizawa stepped back to allow the Professor to speak. "I'm glad you made it here safely! I am sure you are all very excited, but for the moment, we have no time for sight-seeing. I promise that will come later, but for now we need to get you all settled in to your new living quarters you'll use during your stay. If you'll all follow me to the bus, we shall begin the drive to MA."

The class groaned, not looking forward to more sitting down, but hastened their walk to the bus. Unfortunately, not more than a few feet from the plane were a series of flashes engulfing the kids.

"Chris Hemsworth, the Daily Globe. How does it feel to be away from home?"

"Whitney Chang, Daily Bugle. What are UA students doing in New York?"

"New York Times! Are you guys headed to the Marvel Academy? If so, what for?"

"Hey kids, who's got the best Quirk?"

The rush of questions from the sudden mob of reporters were starting to peeve the students rather than concern them. Xavier's bodyguards were attempting to keep them back as the students were rushed to the bus. Aizawa's hair began to rise up, annoyance written all over his face. "I thought our arrival was kept under wraps!"

Xavier looked on at the press. "It was supposed to be. I was sure the information had been known only to the faculty and students! They were instructed to treat this trip as top secret!"

Aizawa sighed. "Well, it looks like someone in your school is going to need a talking to. Vlad! Get everyone on the bus!"

King nodded. "Right! Everyone, on the bus now! Just carry your stuff!"

After the bus left the reporters behind, everyone started to sigh in relief. "I wasn't expecting the press to be so...aggressive." Uraraka panted.

Iida crossed his arms in his seat. "I suppose their presence shouldn't be unexpected. They are the press after all. I should know."

Kirishima flexed his arms a bit, smirking with pride. "Yeah, well, I don't mind a little news coverage myself. It can be fun to show off to the cameras."

"Just remember to aspire for more than that as a pro hero, Kirishima." Aizawa interjected. "It becomes easy to lose focus if you spend too much energy showing off."

"That reminds me, wasn't All Might supposed arrive with you?" Professor Xavier asked.

Midoriya spoke up. "H-he had some things to take care of b-back at school, so he's arriving after us!" He thought he would faint from his sudden courage to talk to such a legend.

"Ah, I see. No matter, I'm sure he'll catch up to us soon enough, fast as he is."

Suddenly, Midoriya heard a distinct voice in his head. Isn't that right, Izuku Midoriya? Oh lord, Midoriya was going to faint. When we have the chance, I'd like to speak to you for a moment. You have been entrusted with a great power. I'd like to get to know the newest holder of One for All.

Professor Xavier knew about One for All? This certainly changed a few things. Not knowing how to respond, in his mind, or out loud, Midoriya opted to stay silent until the time came. He looked over at the Professor, who smiled at him knowingly.

The bus drove all the way to Westchester, arriving at the school gates. Observing that the gate looked like a normal metal gate, Midoriya was puzzled that the school's security appeared inferior to Yuuei's, where the norm was giant walls and security doors.

Parking just past the gate, the students and teachers walked out to the courtyard, the students staring in awe at the giant stone X floating in the fountain. The Professor broke the silence. "Welcome, everyone, to the Marvel Academy for Gifted Youngsters!"

Walking through the courtyard, several dozen students were walking around the campus as the Professor led the UA visitors to the immense mansion just ahead. "This facility opened 51 years ago by myself and a few others to fulfill a long-held dream of mine: to create a world where the Quirkless and Quirk-users can live in peace and cooperation. Here in North America, 12.9 percent of the Quirkless in the global population live on this continent. While the phenomenon of being Quirkless is rare throughout the rest of the world, here the population majority is Quirkless. There is a history of persecution against Quirks in this country in particular, anyone who is different than what our society defines. This school is a beacon for the the generations who will live their lives more harmoniously than those from the past. This is the goal of the Marvel Academy."

Midoriya clenched his sweaty hands. He knew what it was to be without a Quirk in Japan. The prejudice and condemnation...he never imagined the opposite existing in another part of the world. He wondered how his life would have turned out if he had grown up here...

"Excuse me, Professor?" Iida raised his hand. "I hope I am not out of line, but I have been questioning the security of this campus. Since we've gotten past the gate, the entire school appears too...open."

Xavier smirked. "Your fears are completely valid, Mister Iida. The school's outward appearance disguises its true defenses. The entire school is encased by an invisible force-field developed by Dr. Reed Richards to ensure the safe passage of only authorized personnel. The walls surrounding the school and the buildings themselves also contain the latest and safest in defense technology developed by Dr. Henry Pym and Tony Stark to ensure greater internal security."

The students either shuddered or grinned to think of what kind of other secrets the school held. Xavier continued leading them to the mansion.

"Originally this land was a part of my family's estate, the mansion and the greenhouse were the only buildings in the original school. Since then, with funding from a few friends, we've managed to expand to six academic buildings, a cafeteria, training facilities, living facilities, and converting the mansion to a dormitory to accommodate the over four thousand students currently enrolled."

Four thousand?! They definitely had a greater acceptance rate than Yuuei, Midoriya thought. Having Quirkless students probably made up the difference.

"Unlike in Japan, American high schools educate their students for four years. We have a total of 26 classes for each year, from A to Z, the first 23 being general studies classes that contain a class of 50 each. Today you will meet a mixture of the 48 freshmen students from classes Y, X, and Z. Y and X are our Hero Courses, Z is our Support Course."

Shinso spoke up this time. "I'm from Yuuei's General Studies course. I'm not mistaken in assuming that one of your students from General Studies will be participating as well?"

The doors to the mansion loomed over the students. "No, you are correct. One of our students from General Studies volunteered for the tournament. We want to keep things fair, after all."

The doors opened as the Professor led the Yuuei students into the common room of the mansion.

Miles's head perked up at the sound of the door. Kamala stood up to face the door. "Looks like their here."

"Yup." Miles replied. He had no idea what to expect. He looked over to Sam and Kamala, who smiled, letting him know they expected just as much as he did. The doors opened to reveal the Professor leading a very tired looking man, a very serious looking man, and over a dozen kids their age.

"Good! You're all here!" The Professor said, addressing the MA students. "Everyone, I'd like you all to welcome our guests from Japan, the teachers and students of UA High School!"

The two groups of students approached one another, an even space between them. They simply stared at one another from across the aisle, unsure of what to do or say. While none of them knew it, they were all thinking that they expected each other to look a lot stranger. It was then that a man in a red, white and blue uniform stood in front of the MA students. Midoriya tried not to scream when he recognized the shield on his back.

"Hello, everyone!" The man greeted the Yuuei crowd proudly. "My name is Steve Rogers, I am the Hero Training Instructor at MA! Some of you might know me by my hero name Captain America! It's good to see you all made it here safely!"

That man could break the tension anywhere. Suddenly being in the presence of a living legend relaxed the Yuuei students, clamoring to speak with the Star-Spangled Avenger. Mister Aizawa wouldn't give them the chance, unfortunately.

"Hello, Mister Rogers. My name is Shota Aizawa, Eraserhead. I'm one of the Yuuei chaperones. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Shaking hands, Aizawa's low-energy demeanor didn't exactly make it look like a pleasure to the kids, but Cap wasn't deterred and smiled at his peer. "Welcome to MA, Mister Aizawa. And you must be Vlad King! It's good to meet all of you."

Shaking hands with the Class 1-B homeroom teacher, Cap introduced Luke and Carol. Midoriya and the students could barely contain their excitement.

"No way, is that Power Man? And Captain Marvel?"

"I can't believe Captain America is actually a teacher here! He's just as cool as All Might!"

"And he's handsome, too!"

"I bet he's strong. It'd be fun to crush him!"

Meanwhile the students of MA felt no recognition whatsoever. Sam turned to Miles and whispered, "Man, I have no idea who these guys are. Where's All Might?"

The students hushed when the formalities between the teachers had ended. Cap looked around and asked "So, where's All Might? I was told he'd be here as well."

The Professor answered for Aizawa. "Unfortunately, he had some leftover business back in Japan, and will be arriving later."

Cap crossed his arms, closing his eyes and smiled. "That's just like him. Always dedicated to his job. I used to work with him a lot, you know. The guy couldn't get anywhere without stopping to help someone in need. It's one of the things I admire about him most."

"It can also be very annoying." Carol muttered under her breath.

Aizawa didn't wish to discuss All Might for too long and moved ahead in the conversation. "In any case, I believe we should get along with introductions. We have a lot to do and not a lot of time."

The Professor concurred. "Yes, introductions!"

Luke added "How do we wanna do this? None of them look to comfortable with socializing while we're around."

Vlad King agreed. "Agreed. Our presence is a distraction right now."

"But it keeps them out of trouble." Aizawa jabbed back.

The Professor halted the arguing. "Actually, I need to speak to all of you in private for a moment. This is a good opportunity for the students to get to know one another."

"Then why don't we let the class rep's take care of the introductions." Cap suggested.

"I certainly trust mine enough." Carol responded.

"Me too." Luke agreed.

Aizawa and Vlad nodded. "Fine." Aizawa concurred. "Ours are capable as well, I guess we can leave things in their hands for now."

The teachers turned to their students, instructing the class rep's (Iida, Kendo, Khan, and Bradley) to handle intros while they stepped out. As they left, Aizawa looked back at the students with concern.

Cap put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Aizawa. Their good kids."

Aizawa grunted in response.

Iida was the first to speak, but no one was really surprised. "Hello! Honored students of the Marvel Academy! I am Tenya Iida, Representative of Class 1-A at Yuuei High! I look forward to the learning and training we will do together!"

"Hey, Kamala, what's up with this dudes robot hands?"

Kamala smacked Sam in the head, turning back to face Iida with a smile. "It's a pleasure, Iida! My name is Kamala Khan of MA, Class 1-X!"

After that, the students had no trouble starting up conversations. Baymax in particular attracted a lot of attention. Midoriya started to calm down. They're just kids, just like us. Just as he thought this conflict was started up.

"Hey dude, what's your deal?" It was that kid in the red and black hoodie? Being confronted by Kacchan?

"My deal isn't any of your business, extra! Just because you intern with some big-shot spider-freak, you think you're better than me?"

Miles raised his hands defensively. "Um, that's not what I was saying at all! The heck is up your ass? Is your ego always as blown out as that dumb haircut of yours?"

Uh-oh, Midoriya thought. Now that kid had really done it. Bakugo's eyes suddenly went wild, gritting his teeth as he clenched his fists. "You damn punk...I'll show you...blown up..."

Miles raised an eyebrow. "Blown out is what I said. Not too much of a thinker, eh?"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY, SPIDER-BASTARD?!?! DIEEEEEE!!!!"

Bakugo had had enough. Pouncing on the young man, he pinned him to the ground, his right hand raised and ready to strike, crackling with fire. The other students gathered around, ready to pry Miles from Bakugo's grasp. Somehow, Miles wasn't worried. "Die? Heh...talk about raging hormones...you have the temperament and the brains of a live grenade. But I'm sure you knew that, didn't you?"

Midoriya was somehow not worried either. Maybe it was the cocky smile on the boy named Miles's face. It reminded him of All Might. Nonetheless Midoriya grabbed Bakugo's arm and pleaded with him. "Kacchan, that's enough! H-he was just kidding around, these guys aren't our enemy!"

Bakugo shirked off Midoriya with a small blast, knocking him into other students. "SHUT UP, DEKU!! I DON'T CARE IF HE'S A HERO HE DESERVES TO BE CRUSHED AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!!!"

Bakugo tried to blast Miles, but his flames wouldn't come out. The cocky smile came back across Miles's face, looking up past Bakugo. "Heh, looks like you're not gonna get the chance."

Bakugo turned his head behind him at the figure holding his hand back. "That's enough." The boy gripping Bakugo's wrist was tall, a Latino boy with very short black hair. It looked like he was absorbing the fire from the explosive boy's hand to his own. "I suggest you get off of my classmate. I'd hate to have to burn you too badly. It'll feel like hell."

Bakugo stared in anger at the mystery boy that intervened, Miles struggling to get up as the rest of the students braced themselves for one terrible fight-

"AND...I..AM..HEREEEEEE!!!!!"

As the wind burst the doors open, none other than the Symbol of Peace made an entrance as grand as any of his others. Everyone stopped what they were doing because the wind current knocked most of everyone over.

"Whoops! Haha...I meant to surprise everyone, but I guess I ended up REALLY surprising you, HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"No way! Is that really All Might?" Sam yelled out excitedly. His childish glee was shared by most of the others. All Might reveled in the gaze of the youths but for a moment. Then he noticed Miles, Bakugo, and the other boy.

"What's all this? The fights aren't supposed to start until next week! Break it up now, young Bakugo!"

With a sneer, Bakugo reluctantly got off of Miles, and the other boy let go of Bakugo. The two glared at one another in spite, until they walked away. My goodness! All Might thought with a hint of fear. It hasn't been a day, and young Bakugo has already started a fight?

Miles dusted himself off and rubbed the back of his head, groaning as he got himself up. Looking around, he noticed Uraraka checking on Midoriya (who was still on the floor) while Iida and Kendo explained things to All Might. Walking over, he extended his hand out to the green-haired boy. "Hey man, you all right? Thanks for sticking your neck out for me. Even if it didn't do much, it was pretty heroic."

Midoriya shook his head and took Miles's hand. "It was nothing, really. And I should be asking you that. Kacchan can be...pretty rough around the edges."

"I'd say. And what kind of a name is Kacchan, anyway?" Miles said helping up Midoriya.

"Well, it's just my nickname for him. His name is actually Katsuki. Katsuki Bakugo." Midoriya replied. "What about that really scary looking guy that stopped him?"

"Oh, him?" Miles said. "That's Robbie Reyes. He's...well, he's Robbie. Got a bit of a temper too, but he knows how to look out for his friends. Speaking of names, you've got one? Mines Miles Morales."

Midoriya smiled at his new friend. "Mines Izuku Midoriya! And this is Ochaco Uraraka, and the guy in the glasses talking to All Might is Tenya Iida!"

Uraraka waved cheerfully. "HI! It's really nice to meet you!" Miles was about to greet her back when a large fist bonked Miles on the head. "Unbelievable!" Kamala scolded. "You just HAD to make a crack at that explosion guy! With all your talk of Sam running his mouth, it's yours that ended up starting a fight!" Sam walked up to them, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah Miles, I've got to side with her on this one. But I'm pretty damn proud of you, Spider-Boy!"

Miles groaned. "Ugh...you know I don't like to be called that. Hey guys, these are my friends Kamala Khan and Sam Alexander. Kamala and Sam, this is Izuku Midoriya, Ochaco Uraraka, and Tenya Iida."

Iida had finished speaking with All Might and rejoined his friends. "Well, I explained Bakugo's behavior to All Might, and...you!"

Iida gestured wildly to Miles, who pointed to himself in confusion. "Despite Bakugo's actions, that behavior you displayed was utterly disgraceful!" Kamala began to gesture wildly as well. "I know, right? He never thinks before he acts!"

Sam leaned over to Miles and whispered "I think they just became friends." before laughing. All Might walked over to the group commanding their attention. "All right, everyone. I've given the rest of the students permission to go to their assigned rooms. I will discuss everything with the other teachers, so I suggest you go on ahead and settle in."

Midoriya raised his hand. "All Might, I have to tell-"

All Might stopped him. "Whatever you want to discuss, it can wait until later, young Midoriya! Until then, I have business to attend to! See you later! Time for a HEROIC EXIT!"

With that, he was gone in a flash, leaving the students bewildered in a cloud of dust. "Man," Uraraka remarked. "I'll never get tired of that."

The Yuuei students got their things while their new friends followed. "Hey guys, mind if we show you to your rooms? Maybe after that, we can show you around campus!" Miles offered.

They agreed, and the group of six made their way through the mansion. As they walked, Uraraka grabbed Midoriya's arm, which made his body shudder and heat up. "Wow, the day isn't even over and it's already this crazy! This is going to be even more exciting than we thought, right Deku?"

Midoriya smiled and nodded, as he joined his new friends. Little did he know the excitement was only just beginning for the students.

"YOU ARE HERE!"

"I AM HERE!"

Cap and All Might yelled together, locking their arms together like they were arm wrestling. All Might grunted and loosened his grip. "Damn! For an old timer, you're as strong as you've ever been!"

Cap shook out his hand and grinned at All Might. "You're not looking too bad yourself, old friend. We haven't seen each other since-"

"Boston. Isn't that right, Toshinori?"

All Might's hairs stood on end as he heard the familiar tone of Carol Danvers. He looked over at the heroine, struggling to keep up his smile, and walked over to her.

"Carol! It's been a while."

"Yup"

The two pros just looked at each other, Carol smirking with her arms crossed and All Might just wore his famous smile, hoping she didn't see him sweating. Carol decided to break the silence.

"You're looking good."

Small talk! All Might tried his best to respond in a dignified manner.

"OOOHHHH well, you know, with all my hero-ing I've got to do my best to stay in shape 24/7 it's such a tiresome job HA HA HA are you seeing anyone?"

"What?"

So much for that. Aizawa sighed, annoyed and slightly embarrassed by his fellow teachers awkward posturing. "Well, as entertaining as this is, now that All Might is here, can we get back to the topic at hand?"

"Yes, please." Luke said, confused with All Might's mannerisms.

"Yes, of course. We need to discuss the events of today." Xavier added.

Captain America closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "I'm rather concerned that so much of the press knew about the newcomers arrival. Where did they get their information?"

"I spoke to Peter. From what he can tell, the tip the Daily Bugle received was anonymous. To make matters worse, the public is wanting to make a huge show of the whole thing." Luke explained.

All Might threw his hands up, shrugging. "Couldn't we just go ahead as scheduled? I'm sure the school has it within their own power to keep things under wraps?"

Aizawa scratched the back of his head. "That's exactly the problem."

"Hm?" All Might said confusedly.

"He's right." Carol spoke up. "The Inhuman Siege was only recently resolved. The people still haven't completely given back their trust to us."

"The people want as much transparency as we can afford, and they're going to want to know what this international visit is all about. The more secrecy we try to put on, the more the press and the public will want to know." Cap added.

Vlad King placed his hand on his chin, deep in thought. "So, we'll have to make the tournament public to satisfy the people, or the outcry could further strain our relationships with the them."

Luke threw up his hands. "Look, we're all thinking it, so I'm just going to come out and say it. This is obviously a trap! An anonymous source, leaked to the press at a time when our trust with the people is strained, backing us into the corner and forcing us to make our secret tournament public? Someone clearly wants this to happen, and we don't have the time or the resources to make a secure facility to hold this thing. I say we call the whole thing off!"

Vlad King snapped back. "You don't think we can protect our own students? They've seen what's out there, they can hold their own!"

"It's not that we doubt what they're capable of. We just need to think about their safety right now." Carol said.

"I disagree." All Might said, surprising Carol. He turned to her apologetically, seeing her eyes flare up. "Not that I don't want the students to stay safe, I just believe that both of our classes need the opportunity to learn from this experience. To trust in their fellow heroes and their own skills."

"I'm with All Might." Cap declared. "We're pros, I believe we can get ahead of this thing while keeping the students safe."

"Well, I don't believe you are being rational, Captain. I've learned from the attacks on our own school."

The teachers argued back and forth, while the kindly Professor listened to each of his colleagues thoughts individually, ultimately the decision was his to make.

"Enough!" The Professor wasn't known to raise his voice, so the teachers stopped their yelling. "As headmaster of this academy, the decision is ultimately mine to make. You all have valid points, but I'm afraid I have made my decision. The tournament will continue as scheduled. I will make an appointment with representatives of the press to negotiate the terms of coverage in line with the safety of the students."

Some of the teachers were surprised. "You serious about this, Prof? Someone is clearly setting us up!"

"I agree, Lucas, this is quite likely a trap." Xavier had his hands together, dead serious. "However, the Inhuman Siege left the public very distrustful of the hero community. In this day and age, we must show those we protect signs of good faith, and they will return it in kind. Furthermore, do not forget who we are. We are heroes. It is our duty to guide and protect the next generation, and to do this, we must show them we are capable of doing so. This event is a valuable learning experience, now not only in learning from each other, but from how they are seen by the public as well. I know you all care for these children, and you all have your concerns. We will arrange for all of the necessary precautions to be made. We can make this work without compromising the safety of our students. Further more, this gives us a good opportunity to find this potential enemy. That is all for now, I'm sure our UA colleagues need to freshen up. This will be discussed further tomorrow."

The teachers began to go their separate ways, and Aizawa took the time to speak to Xavier as he walked by. "I hope your judgement is sound, Professor. For your sake."

Meanwhile, Carol walked up to All Might, who felt like shaking in his boots. "You don't need to be nervous, Toshinori." Carol said reassuringly. "Believe me, I was just as nervous as you were. But really, I'm happy to see you. Ever since your injury, I never see you anymore."

She walked closer to the Symbol of Peace, placing a hand on his chest. "And you also don't call, you don't write..."

Her hand started to smoke, singeing All Might's costume and making him jump. "...it's a real jerky thing to do, you know." She said with a dangerous smirk.

All Might laughed nervously. "Well, it's nice to see you haven't changed at all! Honestly, I'd thought you would have been angrier."

She laughed as well, a sweet tone to it that made All Might's hair stand on end. "Don't worry, I eventually understood, in my own way. You're still as reckless as ever, I see. Why did you disagree with me? Those kids could be in real danger, what made you fight for this tournament to go public? You do realize this is a trap?"

All Might's smile looked incredibly more forced. "Well, I'm sure you know about the villain attacks back home. In every situation I've never felt so...useless. Like I haven't been worthy of keeping my students safe. I feel I owe it to them, and maybe if I have this chance...I can show I am worthy to be their hero."

Carol huffed. "Well, that's awful selfish of you. But sweet. You big idiot, you don't need to make those kids look up to you, they always will no matter what. You have nothing to prove."

With that, a cloak of smoke emanating from the great All Mights body enveloped the two, and when the veil lifted, Carol looked upon the hunched, gangly and sickly man, his deep set blue eyes filled with guilt and worry.

"I..." Toshinori Yagi tried to get the words out. "I...didn't want you to see me like this."

Carol hadn't seen him since before his injury, back when even his normal form wasn't too different from his hero one in terms of physique. She watched him wipe the blood from his mouth with his oversized costume, and reached down to cup his cheek in her hand, a sweet smile curled on her face.

"Did you think that you're condition would make me stop..?" She was stopped by Toshinori, whose shame was so clear to see. He felt he had abandoned her.

She leaned down, planting a small kiss on his forehead. He looked at her glowing face in surprise. "You really haven't changed at all, Toshinori Yagi. You still carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I don't give a crap what you look like, I loved you for who you are. You left me before, but I'm glad you're here now. Just make sure you're here for those kids, got it?"

He started to smile again. After so many years, he felt the reassurance of a smile for himself. She may not have completely forgiven him, but to know he hasn't lost a friend? For now, that was more than enough.

About the same time, not too far away...

Captain America walked towards his office. He needed to pick up a few documents before heading home for the day. He was about to grasp the door handle when the communicator in his cowl sounded an incoming call.

From Tony Stark.

"Tony?" Cap answered the call, a finger to his ear. "What's up? Any updates on the Killian op?"

"Well, I've definitely got a few updates for the mission log."

The Iron Man's voice crackled over the communicate, a hint of uneasiness in his voice. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Steve. The place is completely wiped off the map. Guys on both sides dead, and no sign of Killian."

Cap grit his teeth. This op was important, he hated to think a slime ball like Killian got away. "Any idea what might've happened?"

"Well, even without JARVIS scanning the bodies, I can tell that a person or persons unknown with strong Quirks killed these guys. Right now I can't tell if they were a third party. We've got the cleanup crew here to take what we can to forensics. Something about this has been bugging me though..."

Cap turned from the door, interested. "What is it?"

There was a moment of silence, then Tony answered. "Whoever's responsible did a lot of damage, but they weren't too thorough. We combed over this place any way imaginable, and from what we can tell, the weapons at the sale were left alone. From the manifests we confirmed that everything there was either untouched or destroyed. Which means whoever did this-"

"-wanted Killian, not the weapons."

"Yeah, I figured that much out. It could be bad, Killian's intelligence is just as dangerous as his weapons."

Cap sighed in frustration. "Well...we'll find him Tony. We have to."

"Not a doubt in my mind, Cap." Tony was suddenly silent.

"Tony?" Cap called.

"Steve..." Tony was darkly serious, the sound of a frightened monotony in the billionaires usually carefree voice. "...these AIM guys...the Maggia punks too...they were literally torn to pieces. The evidence I pieced together on my own suggests that at the very least the killing was all done by one person. This kind of sadistic behavior...so full of hatred...it could only have been done by a monster."

The North Atlantic. That evening...

The large automated titanium doors slid open with a scraping sound against their rusted tracks. Two thuggish men, both Russian dragged the beaten Aldrich Killian across the room by his arms. stopping in front of the stairs, the fatigued head of Advanced Idea Mechanics looked up at the chair above him, unable to make out the man sitting in it with his swollen eyes.

"B-bastard...DON'T YOU KNOW WHO THE FUCK I AM? I CAN END YOU WITH A SNAP OF MY FINGERS-"

The large Russian on his right delivered his fist into Killian's gut, a spurt of blood sputtering out of his mouth. The man grinned like a true psychopath. "You will treat the Supreme with respect, you spoiled rat!"

The Supreme raised his hand, and the Russian lowered his fist, and both men threw Killian at the the foot of the stairs. Straining to look up, Killian saw the Supreme walking towards him, the glow of the monitors above shrouding his body in shadow. His sickly, hoarse voice spoke out to the beaten man like a cold, bone-chilling wind. "I apologize for your treatment thus far, Herr Killian. A necessary precaution for men I don't trust." He stood above Killian, arms crossed behind his back, his posture completely straight, militarily addressing his guest. "However, at this time I do believe I am in need of your expertise."

His accent was...German perhaps? Killian couldn't tell as he tried standing, but only managed to get up on his elbows, his blood-stained teeth gritted at his shadowy kidnapper. "Y-you caused months of planning and production to be set back! You cost me MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! And you want MY HELP? HA!" He spat at his captor.

The Supreme stared at the spots of blood on his boots but for a moment, then in a fleeting moment he shot his hand down, gripping a fistful of Killian's hair and pulling him up to face him. His dark yellowed eyes bulged with rage. He began to beat the crippled man, smashing his fist into Killian over and over. He treated him like a slab of meat, cracking bones and splitting sinew with a sledgehammer fist. When he was sure Killian wasn't dead, he pulled the man closer, looking the barely conscious man in his terrified eyes.

Killian could barely speak, but the recognition in his eyes were unmistakable. "Y-you...you were the one...who t-tore apart my men...m-my-my customers...my god...WHAT THE H-HELL ARE YOU?!"

Killian wouldn't have known, but the devil known as the Supreme was smiling. His face so close Killian could smell his rotten breath, and when he answered his voice was so cold and so sure it paralyzed every nerve in his body.

"I am your liberator, child."

He merely let go of Killian, and he tumbled back to the feet of the Russians, who promptly picked him back up. "I admire your spirit, Mister Killian. It makes it all the more satisfying to beat you down. You will not die this day, my friend. I still have use for you. Blonsky, Gregorivich, you know where to take him. Make sure he survives the process."

The Supreme walked back to his chair, a hand on the back of it as he stared in the monitors. Killian no longer had the will to scream, but the Supreme could hear the sound of his utter submission. And he found the tune delightful. Lost in thought, Dr. Zola, who had been standing by the monitors the entire time, walked up to his master.

"Sir, I will oversee the process personally. Very soon we will have Killian reborn, and we can move on to the next stage."

The Supreme continued to watch the monitors. "Very good, Doctor Zola."

Zola started to walk away, but hesitated. The Supreme asked without even turning to face his subordinate. "You have concerns, Doctor?"

Zola hesitated once more, but knew better than not to answer. "I have received the news that the MA faculty will make the tournament public. Surely the heroes are not so stupid as to not suspect a trap?"

The Supreme continued to watch the screens. "I understand your concerns, Doctor, but what the heroes believe or do not believe is none of my concern. They have done as we have planned, and have given us the perfect window of opportunity. It is for this exact scenario for which I have planned. So I assure you doctor, this will not fail."

Zola nodded and bowed, taking his leave. The Supreme gripped the back of his chair, an impression in the metal, an acidic smoke rising. His revenge was within his grasp.

Back at MA...

The room was an expanse of darkness. Overlooking the scene, in a safety booth, an elderly man with silver hair and a silver beard worked over various calculations on his computer screens. He didn't even look up when Carol Danvers entered the room.

"How's it going, Hank?"

Hank Pym looked up and adjusted his spectacles. "Ah! Miss Danvers, come to check on my progress?"

Carol stood over the scientist, a hand on her hip. "Well, it's mostly a social visit. I wanted to ask how Jan and Hope were doing. But if you'd like to let me in on how the adjustments are going..."

Hank turned back to her with a disapproving frown. "Don't hover over me, literally or figuratively! It's quite distracting! And Jan and Hope are doing fine. How are our visitors faring?"

Carol frowned. "Well, they started with a fight, but it looks like the kids are making new friends now."

Hank chuckled. "Hero students never change. I lent you young Mister Hamada, I hope you take good care of him. Now, it looks like the final tweaks to the program have been made."

He pressed on the screen, and the lights shone in the massive room, covered in white paneling, various holograms and machinery appearing in and out of the room, and every place in the world you could think of seemed to phase in and out of existence.

Hank beamed with pride. "I hope those UA upstarts are prepared for the new and improved Danger Room!"

**_Oh my! Things are heating up on just the second day! Can't wait to show off what the MA students can do when they face off in the Danger Room! If you don't know, the DR was a training room that could produce simulations and traps the X-Men would use to train. Let's see how the kids do against this!_**

**_COMING SOON: WELCOME TO THE DANGER ROOM! MIDORIYA AND THE BOY IN THE LEAD MASK!_**


	5. 5 - The Danger Room and the Masked Boy

**_I AM HERE...WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER!_**

**_Been a while! Now we're getting to the action! More hints at Marvel characters and Marvel universe goodies! More on the tournament matchups and the villains in the next chapter! This was a lot to write. Thanks to everyone that voted and read, and those that wanted/waited for an update! You guys are awesome!_**

"...The Danger Room..? Doesn't that sound a bit..well.."

"Dangerous?" Mister Aizawa responded to Ashido's question. "Yes, I suppose with such a subtle title it would seem so. In fact, I wouldn't put it past any of you if you decided to back out right this minute."

He scanned the group of students, who had all been assembled before the teachers inside of the campus gymnasium. It was their second day at MA, and the Yuuei teachers had agreed to the MA teachers proposal to attempt training in the experimental space. After spending only one night at the place, some of the students were hesitant. Captain Marvel was seen kneeling in front of one girl, whispering something. The girl nodded, and although she seemed unsure, the Captain still nodded and regrouped.

"We're all staying then. Good. I hope all of you survive the experience."

"From what the other students have told me about this place, it seems the school is taking this tournament pretty seriously." Yaoyorozu observed.

Hearing her remark, Sam made the decision to put his arm around her shoulder. "Not to worry, babe, if you start to get scared, the heroic badass Nova will protect-"

Yaoyorozu scowled, elbowing the young man square in the face. Everyone else chuckled as Midoriya wondered if his new friend was as bad as Mineta.

As he and Miles helped Sam back to his feet, Kamala brought a swift oversized fist down upon his head. "Unbelievable! Have you no shame?! It hasn't even been a full day and you're already getting WAY too comfortable around our new friends!"

Sam winced as he rubbed the top of his head. "Damn, girl! Nothing wrong with trying to make a move on such a fine ass la-"

Before Sam could make another sound Kamala swiftly silenced him with a slap to the cheek. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY, IDIOT."

Midoriya and company just stared at the all too familiar scene playing out. He sighed to himself. "I'm guessing that won't be his last move, huh?"

Miles and Kamala simply rolled their eyes and sighed back. "Nope."

Aizawa tried his best to call back everyone's attention. "If you're all finished chatting it up, I'd like to direct your attention to Ms. Danvers, who'll brief you on today's exercise."

As the Captain came up to address the students, Midoriya looked to his fellow students and noticed someone he hadn't seen before. The boy was his age, his appearance lean, but he wore a heavy black coat that went down past his knees. He had spiky, dark brown hair, almost black, and a dark green headband on his head. The most striking feature on him was the metal mask that covered his lower face, starting from the bridge of his nose to the base of his neck. To Midoriya, it almost looked like a gas mask, with circular compartments used for filtration and breathing. It was very compact, hugging the skin it covered to what seemed like an uncomfortable degree. It was almost like the mask hadn't been removed in ages. Midoriya was compelled to know more about him. He had an intensity that reminded him of some of his other classmates, like Todoroki and Tokoyami. There was something in his eyes...a fierceness that the One for All inheritor had only seen in a few individuals. He'd have to watch out for this boy, whoever he is. Midoriya suddenly became flustered when he realized the MA student noticed his staring, and he quickly looked the other way, hoping to god we wasn't going to make as many enemies as Kacchan.

"Alright everyone! Time for some ground rules!" Captain Marvel called out to the students. "After yesterdays little fiasco, our task for today is to break the ice. The rest of the teachers and I agree that there's no better way to do so than a friendly competition! But you won't be competing against each other, but you will be for each other."

That got everyone's attention. She gestured to the enormous metal door behind her.

"This is the Danger Room. It is an advanced training facility where our students fight to survive as a class. Today it is YOUR job for all of you to survive."

Some of the Yuuei students shuffled nervously, they didn't expect to have a teacher make them as nervous as Mister Aizawa could. All Might also looked at his partner with unease.

"Eh...JUST DO YOUR VERY BEST! I WISH ALL OF YOU LUCK!"

With All Mights attempt to relieve the tension in the room, the three teachers entered the areas control room as the students gathered in front of the entrance. Inside the control room, the Professor, Vlad King, Luke Cage and Captain America awaited the rest of the teachers. All Might sighed at Danvers, "Carol, was frightening the children really necessary?"

She looked at her companion unapologetically. "I was just trying to get them on edge. We need to gauge their powers as a group and they should take this seriously. Aside from that, the minute they become too focused on fighting each other, they lose sight of the real threat. You and I both know that cooperation is extremely important amongst heroes."

Before All Might could respond, they were interrupted by Dr. Pym, the head of the Hero Support Department. "Hey, Hank. Is the room ready?"

The aged doctor adjusted his glasses. "Of course, Carol. All of the proper modifications have been prepared and we are ready for a full exercise."

"Then if everyone is ready, you may begin."

Simply nodding, Pym walked to the massive control panel that made a half-circle around the doctor. Outstretching his arms, an army of worker ants emerged from his sleeves and readied themselves in various positions around switches and buttons, moving quickly and diligently.

Aizawa just stared at the spectacle. "Well...that's disgusting."

"DOES HE KEEP THOSE IN THERE ALL THE TIME???" All Might thought to himself.

HANK PYM! HIS QUIRK: COMMUNIC-ANT!

HE CAN INTERFACE HIS BRAINWAVES WITH ANY SPECIES OF ANT AT ONCE, RELAYING INFORMATION AND ORDERING THEM TO PERFORM SPECIFIC TASKS! THE POWER OF HIS QUIRK DIMINISHES THE MORE ANTS HE CONTROLS! HE MAY BE RETIRED BUT YOU'LL STILL NEED AN ARMY TO TAKE DOWN THIS FORMER HERO!

Pym smirked with a hint of mischief as he readied a finger above the mechanism that opened the main door. "Well then, let's get this show on the road."

As the massive 20 foot tall steel sliding door opened sluggishly, the students steeled themselves for whatever awaited them inside. Midoriya nervously scanned around his classmates and new allies as they walked inside. Low level LEDs started lighting up the room, about the size of a football field, revealing an empty space of spotless blue-gray tiles from floor to ceiling.

"What a strange place." Uraraka broke the silence with a whisper, "I was kinda expecting more..."

Kaminari had his hands raised to shoulder level, expecting the worst. "It's so...empty. I wasn't expecting it to be so creepy..."

Tokoyami's eyes scanned the vast facility. "There is more to this facility than meets the eye. We must not let our guard down."

Bakugo also had his hands readied for battle, a devious grin spread from ear to ear. "I'll take down whatever they throw at us!!"

Yaoyorozu stretches out her right arm to her side, a 10 foot long javelin forming in her hand. "Listen, students of Class A and B! We came here to fight as heroes in training! And fight is what we will do!"

Kendo entered a fighting stance, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki following suit. "I can get behind that! Let's do it!"

Kirishima hardened his arms and raised a fist, pumped up. "Hell yeah! Let's show them what we're made of!"

Iida clenched his fists and looked as if he was going to shed tears. "Yaoyorozu...I couldn't have said it better myself!"

He raised his arms to address the crowd. "MY FELLOW STUDENTS! ALLIES FROM THE MARVEL ACADEMY! LET'S FIGHT AS ONE AND WIN THE DAY!"

Miles and Kamala stared with widened eyes.

"Gee, and I thought our class was intense." Miles remarked.

Kamala began to smirk and entered her own fighting stance, forearms slightly elongated using her quirk in front of her. "I like their attitude!"

Sam tossed another pretzel bite in his mouth. "Mmmph?"

Suddenly the lights went out. Once determined and excited, the students became uneasy once more. They couldn't even see in front of them, let alone know where each other are. At the shouted suggestions of some students, those with quirks that safely generated light, Todoroki, Robbie, Sam, Kaminari, and others, began to activate their quirks in order to get their bearings. This barely lit up their immediate area, lest they accidentally harm one of their peers.

Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka, Miles, Kamala, and Sam stuck to one another back to back. As he felt his new friends shoulder touch his, the ninth holder of One for All turned to the wall crawler, beads of sweat trickling down his face.

"Hey, Miles...you guys have done this before, right? Any idea what we can expect?"

The boy looked back at his new friend, who much to Midoriya's chagrin looked just as nervous as Midoriya did. The others in the small circle looked back as well.

Miles nervously chuckled. "Sorry to say, Midoriya, but this is our first time too."

The three Yuuei students gulped at the same time.

"Well..." Sam began, "if it makes you guys feel any better, if the stories I've heard about this are true, then this should be a cakewalk!"

Dr. Pym observed the shifts in the atmosphere from the control room, the glare in his spectacles likely hiding a glimmer in his eyes from sadistic anticipation. "Alright kids, let's see if you have what it takes to be heroes..."

A sound. A metallic thump was heard, directly in front of the students that walked in first, the ones furthest from the door. Another thump, heard at their 3 o'clock. At their 10. Their 8. Now their 4. More thumps, coming closer, closer, the students starting to huddle closer, condensing into a defensive wall against the unseen danger. Then silence. Each student was prey in a corner, scanning the intense darkness for the predator. Todoroki, who was furthest from the door, slowly raised his left arm, slightly aflame, his usually stoic expression twinged with unease and beads of sweat. He squinted his eyes at a form only 5-7 feet ahead of him.

That was when the fluorescent fiery eyes illuminated back at him.

"EVERYONE GET BACK!!" Todoroki yelled out as he fully unleashed his flame, and the face of a purple and gray mechanical man methodically stood up from the ground, a full 25 feet tall. More eyes and more men of metal appeared, surrounding the students. Not only that, but suddenly they were no longer in the tiled room. They were in a city on fire. Skyscrapers toppling and agape with massive holes, concrete torn up and cars overturned. Everything was aflame.

It was the end of the world.

In time with Todoroki's command and the sudden juxtaposition of their surroundings, the once solid group scattered.

Some students ran in a panic, Aoyama and Ashido fired off their quirks randomly at the enemy as they attempted to make their escape. Some like Bakugo and Kirishima reveled in the chaos, taking the fight straight towards the robots.

Then there were the students that merely stood their ground. Midoriya, Miles and friends remained in their close-knit circle, ready to fight despite the confusion. Then suddenly one of the robots ran up to them and brought its fist to the ground in front of them, scattering the kids across the street. Sam squealed as he spun across the cityscape.

"THE STORIES WERE A LIE, THEY WERE A LIE!!!"

The teachers watched the apocalyptic sequence, Pym smiling in satisfaction as Aizawa, All Might and Vlad King simply stared in awe.

"As I said, everything was adjusted to your modifications Miss Danvers. UA teachers, I don't know anything about what your students have experienced, but I can tell you they've never fought a foe such as this before! Now, they face the..."

"SENTINELS!!!" Franklin screamed as he telekinetically grabbed Scott and Mei, yanking them away from the outstretched arm of the robotic hunter.

Todoroki sent a wave of ice to capture the sentinel attacking him, but his eyes widened in horror as it began glowing with heat, melting its icy prison in an instant.

"That's right." Pym remarked as he observed. "Long ago the sentinels were originally designed by the government to hunt down those with quirks, created to adapt to any condition, to any attack, to any quirk. Once defunct, we've had them reprogrammed and repurposed for training our senior students. Objectively speaking, they are versatile, unrelenting, and completely unstoppable."

Meanwhile Kirishima grabbed the fists of another sentinel as Bakugo blasted it from behind. When the smoke cleared, the sentinel was now sporting a shining coat of chrome metal armor, not a single scratch as evidence of Bakugos attack. Bakugo was hanging on to the machines shoulder in shock. "W-what the hell?! Why didn't that-" He was interrupted when the sentinel slammed its newly armored head against the boy, sending him flying into a car, denting the roof.

"Bakugo!" Kirishima yelled out, now struggling against the sentinels grip, the concrete cracking around his feet underneath the pressure of the sentinels monstrous strength.

Miles wasn't faring any better, any webs he tried to confine a sentinel with sprouted various spines all over its body that cut the strings. Iida and Midoriya attempted to attack its blind spot, but it seemed that they weren't fast enough, as it was able to track them even with Iida's Recipro and Midoriya's Full Cowling. Attempting to attack it from both sides, the sentinel suddenly spun in place from its waist, as if on a swivel, swatting the two students with both arms at once. Kamala meanwhile was dragging Uraraka behind rubble, having been dazed from the previous shockwave.

Franklin was still attempting to hold back the same sentinel, Shinso having arrived to cover Tokoyami, who was weakened by the light of the flames. "Hey guys! Any suggestions?!" Franklin yelled out behind him.

Shinso helped Tokoyami up before answering. "My quirk isn't suited for combat! I'm useless in this situation! With a quirk like that, can't you tear this guy apart?!"

Franklin grimaced. "Believe me, I'd like to, but I'm not nearly strong enough!"

Shinso stared at the boy. He felt how unsure of himself this kid really was. He grit his teeth at what he decided to do.

"Hey, you! Do you think you're useless?!"

Franklin turned back to Shinso, straining against the sentinel. "The hell did you say?!"

Shinso shouted back with as much hostility as he could. "I SAID, YOU WANNABE, DO YOU THINK, WITH A QUIRK LIKE YOURS, THAT YOU'RE USELESS?!"

Franklin was now pissed, turning half of his body to Shinso. "DO YOU WANNA COME OVER HERE AND FIND-"

The progeny of the Fantastic Four went silent, his eyes glazed over and ghostly white. Shinso sighed as he had he knew his quirk had activated. Franklin Richards was under his control. Shinso shifted his gaze from Franklin to the rapidly approaching sentinel as he thought to himself:

"You've got so much in you, pal. Guess you just need a push to let it all out."

With the two boys yelling in unison, with a simple mental command Shinso made Franklin turn toward their opponent, each arm crossed across the other, hands clawed as if to grip the sentinel. He then pulled his arms apart until they were stretched from end to end, tearing the robot in half, forcibly separating the two halves at least 15 feet apart from one another. He released the psychic from his hold, a blow finally done to the enemy. As Shinso kneeled to catch his breath, Tokoyami simply stared.

"That was intense."

Finally, other students found their own ways to push the sentinels back. The class B students managed to restrain one with Shiozaki's vines, after Kendo used her large hands to grab hold of the legs and trip it. Tetsutetsu then bashed in the head before it could escape from its restraints.

Yaoyorozu also managed to convinced Ashido and Aoyama to calm down and lure a sentinel to her, Kaminari using his electricity to stun it long enough for her to create a cannon powerful enough to blast a hole in its chest.

Kirishima's struggle was only getting worse, his arms starting to crack. He began to yell out in pain. He shut his eyes as hard as he could, prepared for the worst when he suddenly heard his salvation:

"DIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!"

Bakugo slammed his palm into the sentinels face, blowing an explosion into its eyes, knocking it back and releasing Kirishima, who staggered back onto one knee.

"OUTTA THE WAY WEIRD HAIR! IT'S TIME FOR SOME PAYBACK!!!"

Kirishima smirked, glad to see his friend back on his feet. He clutched his cracked left forearm and grit his teeth in a scowl. "There's no way he can beat this thing on his own. But...what can I do like this?"

"Hey! Kirishima!"

The boy turned. It was Sero, swinging around the corner of a building from his tape with a young African-American girl with braided hair and a yellow t-shirt in tow.

Bakugo continues to zip around, blasting the sentinel as Kirishima greeted his friend. "Hey, Sero! Who's your friend?"

The girl decided to introduce herself. "Names Danielle. You're Kirishima, right? I dig your quirk!"

Sero put his hands on his hips. "She saved me from one of those robots a few blocks back! I've been helping with mobility and she's been the muscle! I saw you and thought you could use our help!"

Turning back to the battle, Kirishima sighed. "Ehh...Bakugo's got this one, I'm in no condition to keep fighting anyways-"

Danielle slapped him. "Now you stop that right now." Kirishima looked back in surprise.

"I don't know you, buddy, but I've seen you fight today. You're someone who never quits, and that takes more than the strength of your body or your quirk. That's inner strength. That's heart. If that doesn't make you a hero, then I don't know what does."

Kirishima looked back at Danielle in shock as she raised his fist up to his chest. "Now..." she continued, "you ready to kick this guys ass, or what?"

Kirishima wipes the sweat from his brow, sporting a grin full of sharp teeth, and bumped his fist against hers. "You're right...it isn't manly to quit! Let's do this!"

Sero tried to interrupt the moment. "Um, that's great and all guys, but how do we even beat this guy when Bakugo isn't even putting a dent in him?"

Kirishima watched Bakugo's losing battle. Put a dent...

"That's it! Hey Sero, I've got two questions for you: How strong is your tape, and how's your throwing arm?"

Bakugo was sweating bullets. He screamed as he launched another useless explosion. He wondered how he could beat any of the losers at this school if he couldn't even beat this tin can?

"HEY BAKUGO!!!"

He turned to the sound of Kirishima's voice, Sero had a length of tape attached to him in one arm and a girl he didn't recognize with the other.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY AND GET READY!"

Bakugo grinned knowingly, launching a blast that knocked him out of the line of fire. Sero gripped the tape with his hands and begun spinning in place, swinging Danielle and Kirishima in a circle. As the two students tucked themselves into a ball and activated their quirks, Kirishima took the few seconds they had to ask Danielle a question.

"Hey Danielle, how about we call this move the Double Hammer Throw?"

Danielle liked the idea, but smirked at a better one. "Not bad, K! But I've got a better one..."

See then launched Kirishima and Danielle like two human cannonballs towards their target.

"...THE DOUBLE FASTBALL SPECIAL!!"

The twin impact on the sentinel caused its chest to cave in from the force. It made a distorted, electronic noise that could be construed as a pained yell. Kirishima and Danielle grunted as they fell to the ground dizzy and the sentinel stumbled back into a building.

Kirishima looked up and smiled. "COME ON AND FINISH IT!"

Coming down from the sky like a bat from hell, Bakugo was quickly exploding, launching himself at top speed towards the fragile crater in the hated robot.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, IDIOT! GET TO COVER!"

Kirishima and Danielle curled up on the ground as Bakugo released a bloodcurdling battle cry, releasing an explosion seen from all across the crumbling battlefield. The shockwave shattered the remaining windows in the area as the building crumbled.

Bakugo landed in front of Kirishima and Danielle as Sero ran up to join them. As the smoke cleared, amongst the piles of brick, mortar, and rebar was a sentinel with a burning hole through its chest, the edges of the metal molten. And as the others sighed in relief, Bakugo still held his sadistic smile.

"Heh...payback."

The boy ate his own words as the sentinel slowly staggered back up. Bakugo and the others scowled and prepared for another fight until a piece of street lamp covered in flames pierced its neck and knocked it back down its back. They turned to see Robbie Reyes put his hands in his pockets.

"Couldn't get the job done, huh?"

Bakugo had had it. "Why you...BASTARD!" Bakugo launched himself at his new rival.

Teams Midoriya and Miles we're hitting their stride as well.

"Miles!" Kamala yelled. "We need to knock it off balance! Distract it up top!"

Miles nodded, beginning to string up its arms and head with webs. "Why so cold to us, 3P0? How about a lovely silk scarf to warm you up!"

Kamala then turned to Iida and Midoriya. "Alright you two! Get around back to take out its legs! Sam! On their signal take it up front!" Turning to Uraraka, she put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right to keep going?"

Uraraka nodded, clenching her fists and her feisty determination returning to her face. "I'm ready to go! What do you need me to do?"

Miles started to get exasperated as the sentinel tore through more and more of the webbing, looking like a bladed porcupine. "Hey guys! Might want to get to it, whatever it is you're getting too! I'm not sure it's enjoying my tailoring!"

"We're on it Miles! One for All...FULL COWLING!" Green lightning emanated from Midoriya's body as he bounded around to the sentinels back.

"Let's go, Midoriya! Recipro...EXTEND!" Iida speeded around until he was sided with Midoriya.

Leaping in unison, the two launched themselves at the sentinels legs, each pair of legs extended and aimed at the shins. Sam knocked on his head, getting himself back into the game as he staggered from the rubble he landed in.

"I'm all over it, Kamala! Nova...METEORIC IMPACT!" A brilliant golden aura formed around Sam, and he launched himself into the air, flying with both fists forward towards the. sentinels head. The three students collided, Midoriya and Iida knocking its legs out from under it, and Sams blow knocking it backwards so it was almost parallel to the floor, facing the ceiling.

That was when Kamala readied Uraraka. Her arms were stretched about 15 feet back from in between two streetlights. Uraraka was up against Kamalas body like she was loaded in a makeshift slingshot, locking her hands together to decrease her weight with her quirk.

"Alright Uraraka! Let's finish it!" Kamala yelled as she lifted her legs and allowed her arms to compress back, launching Uraraka towards the sentinel.

"ALRIGHT!" Uraraka landed on the sentinels right calf, both hands on its surface, a pink glow indicating that she had activated her quirk on the helpless machine. "IMPROVISED SPECIAL MOVE PART TWO: ORBITAL AIR KICK!"

The sentinel now weightless, she kicked off of the sentinel with both feet, sending the robot spinning into across the city until it was out of sight.

Uraraka floated to the ground as the team regrouped around her. Midoriya helped her to the ground as she wiped her brow and smiled proudly.

Miles smiled and caught his breath. "Now that was some teamwork, guys...let's not do it again, yeah?"

As the students were gaining the upper hand, Doctor Pym still hadn't changed his expression. "Now that's one hell of a performance, kids...you're doing a lot better than I expected!"

A few ants to his left gripped a knob labeled 'POWER LEVEL' and turned it to the right as far as they could.

"Of course," Pym pulled a handkerchief from his coat and wiped his glasses. "complacency has always been humanities greatest weakness."

Suddenly, all over the city, the sentinels began coming at the students again. Holes in chests closed up, limbs reattached, and bodies pulled themselves back together.

"Aw crap. They self-repair." Mei said as she peeked from a building while repairing Scott's goggles along with a few other students.

Things only seemed hopeless from there. The students, even in their groups, were too few as more sentinels appeared to back up the ones already in the city. Everyone fought their hardest as they were surrounded, others were already in their metal grip, and the rest resolved to stick together until the end.

Amongst the blood, sweat, tears and destruction, to Shoto Todoroki this battle seemed impossible. He had finally managed to outrun his sentinel, but at great expense to his energy, patches of frost continuing to grow around his right side. He looked at his burnt and frostbitten hands and breathed heavily. He wondered if it would ever end. When would the pros get here? He thought of his classmates, his siblings, his mother...

"AHHHHHHH!"

A sudden female scream snapped him back to the moment. It can from nearby. Looking around from the broken base of a collapsed building he had been hiding in, he quickly looked around the area, trying to pinpoint where the scream had come from.

That's when he saw her. The girl from before! The girl that Captain Marvel has whispered something to before! Her leg seemed to have been scraped. By rubble or a sentinel he didn't know. That's when he saw the sentinel chasing her, and his heart suddenly sank to his stomach.

It was the same sentinel he had run from.

There was no doubt. There was still frost on different parts of the inhuman creatures body. She was trying to back away but she couldn't run the way her leg was, and the sentinel was slowly approaching her, gaining on her. Todoroki grit his teeth, he was motionless. What could he do? What could he possibly do against-

"ITS YOURS! YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!"

Todoroki's eyes widened as he heard Midoriya's voice in his head.

He heard his mother.

"You can become the hero that you want to be."

Then, he heard one more...

"Isn't it a hero's job to save people?"

It was his voice. Todoroki slowly clenched his hands into fists, his body twitching and quivering, his mouth grimacing at his own hesitation. He let out a scream. Not one of pain, or despair. A war cry. Something primal that would make the bravest hero or the most hardened criminal tremble. The sentinel turned from its target to see a tsunami of ice approaching it. The shadow of the force of nature enveloping it before the ice itself did, pinning it to the building next to it, only it's head and an arm poking out of the iceberg. Todoroki slid down the ice, delivering a swift kick to the monsters cheek, kicking it out of place, and the hero in training landed in front of the girl.

"Who...who are you?!"

He looked back at her, his body practically half of an ice sculpture, his labored breathing seemed to surround him with a cold mist. He pierced her with his icy blue eyes before turning back to the sentinel, which was already melting the ice.

"I'm just a hero."

Todoroki began to power his flames as the sentinel roared, breaking out of the iceberg. Todoroki raised his arms in front of him, shielding the girl and himself from the bits of ice that flew off. Todoroki then unleashed his flames in a full regalia of volcanic power.

The sentinel braced itself, planting its feet firmly in the ground and leaned back as its facial compartments slid back and opened, revealing a center like a glowing, red hot star. As the robot leant forward and launched a powerful laser blast, Todoroki's eyes became shocked as he quickly responded with the full power of his fire, the two waves of energy met and struggled against each other, the collision like a supernova.

He wanted to give in. More than anything Shoto Todoroki wanted to just stop and let the pain end. Then he looked back at the girl. The girl he was trying to save. He knew, deep down, even his father wouldn't give up in this place. This situation.

"Hell...LIKE HELL I'M GIVING UP NOW!"

Todoroki screamed as he pushed his fire further to the sentinel, the robot responding in equal force. Burns began forming on his forearm and he was about to shut his eyes, but he kept them open. If this was his end, he would look the enemy in the eye, not giving it the satisfaction of seeing him afraid, if this machine could even comprehend fear. As the sentinels own power began to overwhelm and envelop him, Todoroki slid back closer to the girl, and knowing that it it was not the case, he turned to her anyway, grabbing her hand and said, "It's ok, everything will be ok. I'll save you." He saw the combination of fear and hope in her eyes as he braved himself for the final-

"Enough." A single word was spoken, and a blinding light spread its for what must have been eight blocks. It seemed like hours of staring at the sun to Todoroki as he continued to stand before the girl before the fiery light dissipated.

Todoroki shook his head and rubbed his eyes. As his blurred vision corrected himself, he checked on the girl, who seemed alright aside from her leg, and was also rubbing her eyes. He then looked back to the sentinel, or what was left of it. Where a sentinel stood, there was now a pair of metal legs, cut off at the knees and molten at the edges. Burnt scraps of metal were strewn about the area, and more striking was the ash from a blast zone on the building to his right, the shadow of the sentinel burned into the blast area, deeply disturbing Todoroki.

Looking to the source of the light was a boy, clearly from the Marvel class, with dark, spiky brown hair, a green headband and a metal mask on the lower half of his face. There wasn't a mark on him, and his arm was outstretched towards where the sentinel stood.

"Hey..." Todoroki tried to call to him, but was weak and winced from his burns and frostbite. He had questions, but the boy simply brushed past him. As he walked by, Todoroki looked into his eyes, and despite the cold expression he wore, inside is yellow and orange eyes, there was a hatred deeper than even he had know in his life. He became worried as he walked towards the girl he desperately tried to protect, but was surprised when he helped her up.

"Are you ok?" He spoke to her in a deep mechanical voice, probably due to his mask. Unlike his expression, his voice hinted that he cared for her.

The girl smiled weakly at him. "Yeah...I'm alright. Almost killed by a giant robot, and my hair was ruined. Typical day."

The boy simply grunted in reply. The city suddenly began to disappear around them as a familiar blue-gray tiled room reappeared. The students looked around in shock. They were still in the Danger Room! From openings in the walls, squads of drones flew in to pick up the damaged and deactivated sentinels back into the walls. The door opened and the teachers greeted them.

Captain Marvel waved to the students. "Welcome back, students-"

She was interrupted by an uproar from the students, outraged at the level of intensity from the training exercise. She continued to speak after Aizawa gave them "the look".

"I know that was intense. This facility is usually restricted to our upperclassmen students, who have usually had more training and experience and you. Truth be told, we increased the level of the simulation so that it would be difficult for even ourselves."

So, it was all a generated simulation? None of it was real? Midoriya thought to himself.

"The sentinels were some of the most difficult enemies heroes and villains ever faced, designed to adapt and counteract any quirk they met. To be honest, I wasn't sure if you would all make it to the end. But I'm glad to see that I was proven wrong. The sentinels were reprogrammed to be non lethal. Despite whatever injuries were sustained during the exercise, none of you were in any danger of dying today. But even knowing that this was training, I told you to survive, and you did. Although you still have a ways to go."

The kids looked at each other in confusion, as Captain America took over.

"You were told in the beginning that this was an ice breaker. You would be fighting for one another as you would for yourselves. I am pleased by the performances of most of the groups today. You listened to one another, you helped one another, and more importantly, you worked as one. However, the minute most of the classes decided to panic and split off from the main group I knew that none of you were ready just yet to be heroes. Even when most of you regrouped, you didn't do so as one. It is true that in missions you will need to split up to achieve victory, but that is always with some plan in mind. This was giving in to the chaos and working from that point. Some of you even started to fight amongst each other!"

He eyed Reyes and Bakugo.

"Cooperation, kids. This is one of the fundamentals of being a hero. You must cooperate with citizens, politicians, rescue workers, law enforcement, and each other. Always remember this: you don't need to do anything alone, and you can't always do anything alone. Don't take our words today as a proclamation of defeat, take them as a lesson for the future, and a sign of the potential you've yet to achieve. All of you went beyond our expectations. Now, if you've all caught your breath, we're heading to the nurses office to get everyone's injuries checked out and treated."

As the satisfied and reassured students were ushered out of the gymnasium, Todoroki was stopped by the boy in the metal mask.

"Hey you. Touch my sister again, and we'll have words. I protect her, got it?"

With that he left with the rest of his class. What was that about? Todoroki thought. His thoughts were interrupted by the girl he had tried to protect. Now that there were no killer robots, he finally got a good look at her. She had short, jet black hair and gold hoop earrings. She had a pair of pink goggles raised up on her head and a yellow coat.

"Hi! My names Jubilation Lee Starsmore! But everyone calls me Jubilee. I just wanted to thank you for helping me out before, your quirk is totally awesome!"

"It was no problem." Todoroki said as he wondered what kind of name Jubilation was. "I'm just glad you're alright, although it seems like you could've gotten yourself out of there without me."

Jubilee poured to herself. "Yeahhhh, I guess. I just figured my quirk wasn't that strong, y'know? It's funny, I wasn't even supposed to be a part of the training today, but I insisted on coming along. My mistake, I guess!"

So that's what Captain Marvel whispered to her about. "So... that was your brother, huh? What's his deal? He destroyed that sentinel like it was nothing."

Jubilee smiled. "Yeah, isn't he great? He's kinda the typical overprotective older brother, but it's nice to know he's there, y'know? He tends to go overboard, but he didn't get into this school by being a human grill after all!"

Todoroki stared at the back of her brothers head as he walked out. He felt like Midoriya as he let his curiosity get the better of him.

"He's powerful...what's your brothers name?"

"Hm? Jonathan. Jonathan Starsmore!"

**_NEXT TIME: THE KIND OF HERO YOU WANT TO BE. GEAR UP FOR THE TOURNAMENT!_**


	6. 6 - The Kind of Hero You Want to Be

_The intense training the heroes in training underwent had taken its toll. To face such a threat from the bygone days of quirk prejudice, it was simply overwhelming. Despite understanding the lesson they were meant to learn, the experience was simply unnerving. Everything in the Danger Room was so real, or at least, it seemed so real. So real in fact, that many of the students believed it to be. _

_As the East versus West Tournament approaches with only two days remaining, the students prepared in any way they knew how. Now they knew exactly what they were fighting for._

SHINSO

A pair of exhausted, violet eyes looked in the bathroom mirror, seeing the pale yellow pair from a sentinel staring back. Hitoshi Shinso rubbed his eyes, splashing cold water into his face before looking back; now there was only himself, and as he stared into his own gaze, he began to ask himself for the first time since he enrolled in Yuuei High:

What am I even doing here?

The question never came up before. In spite of his status in the schools General Studies track, he had never doubted his resolve to become a hero before, why was he starting now? Shinso walked over and sat on the edge of his bed to ponder, head hanging low.

It was the boy. The blonde-haired boy that shielded him and Tokoyami from the sentinel. Shinso was taken back to that moment, the moment he met a hero and saw fear. He could hear it in his voice, almost desperate for any sort of support, support that he gave in the only way he knew how. Even with all of that power, that kid was still scared, so Shinso used his quirk. He pushed that poor kid into submitting to his brainwashing, just so Shinso could finish the job.

All his life, Shinso had felt cursed by his quirk, and in this moment, his Marvel Academy dorm had never felt smaller.

A knock on his door. Sighing, Shinso slowly stood up and walked to the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see the object of his thoughts standing in front of him.

"Oh, uh...hey." The blonde boy started, his hand on the back of his head, looking off to the side. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, you seem pretty worn out."

Shinso chuckled at the formality. "You're not interrupting anything, I actually get that a lot."

Shinso stepped aside to let Franklin in, who hesitantly stepped inside. "Your name's...Shinso, right? Hitoshi Shinso? One of your classmates told me where I could find you."

Shinso shut the door behind him and opened up the blinds, letting the sun back in. "That's right, but I don't believe I know yours."

Franklin suddenly straightened up and extended his hand to Shinso. "Oh! It's Franklin. Franklin Richards. You might not remember me, I'm the, um..."

"You're the kid I forced to tear that robot in half." Shinso ignores the proposed handshake, looking downcast as he sat back on the edge of his bed.

"Well, yeah." Franklin lowered his hand. "Actually, since the exercise I've been really curious about how you did that. Your quirk, right?"

Shinso chuckles, refusing to take his eyes off of the floor. "My quirk...yeah. It's called Brainwashing. I, uh, well basically I can control anyone that answers my questions."

Franklin put his hands in his pockets, glaring at the boy. "Is that really what it's called? Pretty sinister, isn't it?"

Shinso hung onto that word. Sinister. "People used to always tell me it's the perfect quirk for a villain." He rubbed his hands together. "I guess it is kind of...invasive. I apologize for using it on you the way I did."

Franklin let out a deep sigh, taking his hands out of his pockets and sitting next to Shinso. He looked up at the ceiling, spying nothing in particular. "I wasn't strong enough."

He glanced up at Franklin.

"I don't mean there was something wrong with my quirk either. When we come to a school like this, we spend every day learning about our potential, and how far we still have to go. When that sentinel attacked us, I wasn't thinking that I had all the power I needed, instead I believed that I wasn't ready. And I hesitated."

He turned to Shinso, whose apparent guilt was etched all over his face. "Listen you stepped up to the plate when I didn't have the guts to. The perfect quirk for a villain? Yeah, maybe. But regardless of how you did it, you did it to save my life and the life of your classmate. If you're not a hero, then none of us ever could be."

The two sat in silence for a while, and eventually Franklin stood up. "Well, anyway, I just wanted to thank you is all. I'll be seeing you."

He walked back to the door when Shinso stood up as well. "Hey, wait a minute!"

Franklin turned back to see his sunken-in eyes light back up. "Thanks for saying all that. Listen...back then, all I could see was that you were plenty strong. You just needed a push, so don't sell yourself short just to make me look good."

Franklin grinned. "Well either way, you can prove yourself tomorrow. If we end up facing each other in the tournament, you'd better not disappoint me and make me look bad."

ROBBIE

"THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, HOTHEAD?!?!"

Robbie Reyes groaned. That Bakugo kid had been tailing him for about five minutes now. Five minutes too long for Robbie's taste.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP, BASTARD!!! DON'T ACT LIKE YOU'RE NOT IGNORING ME!"

All Robbie wanted to do was have a quiet moment in the cafeteria to eat and collect himself before they announced the pairings for the tournament tomorrow. They were serving barbecue too. As disciplined as he could be, he was losing patience, and the ability to block out Bakugo's explosive threats.

"ARE YOU LISTENING-"

Robbie spun around and grabbed Bakugo's arm and throat, the lunch tray he held a second before clattering on the floor. Bakugo grunted as he struggled to breathe, his free hand sputtering smoke as the heat he usually produced was being drained. The altercation caught the attention of the various students sitting in the surrounding tables.

"Listen up. Listen good." Robbie's voice darkened as his eyes glowed like hellfire. "I guess I can commend you for your perseverance; I've never seen a guy so consistently and so stupidly angry. But man, you are really starting to piss me off. And yeah, you're strong. I bet you'll make one hell of a hero one day. But if you don't take your shitty attitude literally anywhere else, I will burn you. You think you know fire? You haven't seen fire."

Robbie unceremoniously dropped Bakugo to the ground, picking up his tray as the Yuuei student caught his breath. Bakugo held his hand to his throat, his eyes glaring with reignited hatred towards his newly christened rival.

Robbie began walking to a nearby table with his tray, muttering frustratingly to himself about having to get a new lunch. As Bakugo began to stand up, he unsurprisingly refused to keep his mouth shut.

"HEY! YOUR TURN TO LISTEN TO ME!"

Robbie grit his teeth and stopped walking, keeping his back to Bakugo.

"I don't know what your quirk is and I don't give a crap. You made me look weak against that dumb robot during training, so you better pray we're not matched up in the tournament! If we are, it doesn't matter what you do to my quirk, I won't stop blasting you until you realize that I'M THE STRONGEST ONE HERE-"

Robbie spun around and slammed his tray into Bakugo's face, breaking it in half as he staggered back, barbecue sauce and beef sliding down his face. Robbie regained his composure as Bakugo was simply frozen in disbelief.

"That was for making me drop my lunch. Thanks for giving me the excuse."

Bakugo's eyes widened as he heard the laughter of many of the students around him. He growled like and animal as he raised his hands and rushed Robbie like a rabid dog.

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT, BASTARD!!!"

Before Bakugo could make his move, Kirishima and Iida blocked his path. Convincing their classmate to stand down, he simply scowled and stormed off to his room to clean up and likely sulk. As he watched the tension in the cafeteria dissipate, Robbie wondered if he really could hold his own against Bakugo, should they face one another in the tournament.

"That punk's a real piece of work."

Robbie felt the heat well up like the other one inside of him was just beneath the surface, ready to burst from his skin.

"Maybeeee I should teach him a lesson..."

Robbie grabbed at his face, no one noticed his predicament as they were preoccupied for the moment with Bakugo's outburst.

"Come on Reyes...you'll have to let me out sooner or later..."

Robbie forced the burning pressure back down, gritting his teeth as he continued to his seat. "I vote later, asshole. Until I can control you, you're going to stay right where I want you."

MIDORIYA

Midoriya was halfway through his morning workout when he got the call to go to the headmasters office. After how well they worked in training the other day, Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida took to preparing for the tournament alongside their new friends. Even if they would be fighting one another, that was no reason to not take Captain America's words to heart. That was when Xavier sent for him. Of course Midoriya, between dealing with his nerves, had recalled that the esteemed professor not only knew of One for All, but had also requested to speak with the Ninth Holder at some point in the near future. With a mixture of hesitation and excitement, Midoriya rapped his knuckles on the heavy wooden door to the headmasters office.

"Come in, Mr. Midoriya."

Midoriya opened the door, the professor sitting at his desk, looking over a series of papers. He looked up at the student with a welcoming smile that calmed Midoriya's nerves as he sat across from the professor.

"Hello, Mr. Midoriya, thank you for coming to see me on such short notice."

Midoriya straightened up out of formality. "O-oh! It's no problem, Professor, my friends and I were just preparing for the tournament! I just hope I'm not interrupting anything important!"

Xavier put his papers back down on the desk. "Oh, this is nothing. I'm just trying to resolve the press mishap for tomorrows event. It will be quite public, so I hope you and the students will be prepared."

"O-oh, well since the Yuuei Sports Festival was very public and televised and stuff I'm sure there'll be nothing to worry about, especially since we don't use our codenames or anything and really the whole point was to distinguish ourselves so-"

Midoriya stopped himself and covered his mouth before he could continue rambling. Xavier simply chuckled with amusement. "There's no need to feel ashamed, my boy. You are excited! I've learned all about you from your mentor, All Might, and I must say I've never met a young man that admires heroes quite like you."

"Actually, Professor," Midoriya uncovered his mouth. "since you know all about me and One for All, I've been wondering if that's what you wanted to speak with me about?"

Xaviers expression changed to one of gentle sternness. Wheeling his chair from around his desk, he moved towards the window overlooking the campus grounds, Midoriya standing to join him.

"As you know, the history of powers and heroes all over the world has never been one as clear-cut as divisions of right and wrong. There are the heroes, and the villains, of course, but I am sure you have learned through your own experiences that there are forces in this world that can make it one of gray, not simply black and white."

Midoriya's face grew serious as he listened to the professor.

"I know of the trials you and your classmates have endured in the short time you have attended UA High. And in that time, you have learned that there are villains born from circumstances that simply cannot be controlled, and heroes who, despite all of the best intentions, do not win the day, and make their mistakes."

Many key moments of the past few months rang in recognition within the boys mind: All Mights doubt; Bakugo's pride; Endeavor's ambition; the Hero Killer Stain; Iida's rage; Shigaraki; that there are some not even All Might can save.

The Professor could sense the discord within Midoriya's mind.

"I understand that your exposure to the world of heroes can cause...disillusionment. In the ones you believed in and within yourself. This is understandable, even we here in the states have had our own share of mistakes and consequences. But I want you to know that you shouldn't give in."

Midoriya turned to the professor, who looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"Midoriya, if this doubt has sprouted within you, then do not uproot it with naivety. Keep that close, it will keep you from becoming ignorant and vulnerable to reality. But do not let that doubt control you, do not let it bring you into despair because that feeling of admiration and belief that you hold for those around you...that is what keeps the ideals of kindness and heroism alive. Hope, young Midoriya. Do not let go of it. You possess a great power, but it is who you are that makes it great. Always remember this."

Midoriya didn't know what to say, the professor had sensed everything Midoriya had thought about lately and talked with him like the kind of wise men you see in the movies. In fact, Midoriya was so transfixed on Xaviers speech that he almost forgot that it wasn't a rhetorical one.

"Y-yes sir, of course!"

The Professor merely smiled in return, making his way back to his desk. "Very good. Continue to work hard, Mister Midoriya, and I look forward to seeing your performance tomorrow. Good luck with your training"

Midoriya's enthusiasm sprang back as he bowed to the professor. "I will sir, and thank you!"

The professor watched as Midoriya excused himself, and was thoroughly satisfied with what he had found within the boys mind while he was there.

Remarkable. Xavier thought. Although he is not without faults, and he has been exposed to so much evil and tragedy in his life, his determination, courage and kind heart are nigh unshakable. I am grateful that fate brought him to All Might, the future of humanity and quirks is bright with him in it.

ALL MIGHT

All Might grunted in frustration. Not only because of the students experience in the Danger Room, but because he didn't have enough juice to keep his form so he could console the children. He was sulking in the teachers lounge when Carol finally tracked him down.

"Toshinori? So this is where you've been hiding. I didn't catch you after training, so I got worried."

The frail and sullen Number 1 Hero turned towards his comrade. "Worried? Yeah, you're damn right I am. I had forgotten how intense the Danger Room could be. I feel like...like I should have prepared them somehow. They had no idea what they were getting into, and now I can't even muster the strength to be the hero they need and console them! Inspire them! I feel so pathetic and useless!"

All Might stumbled slightly, out of breath. Carol looked at him with concern, putting on a smile and a hand on her hip. "Hey now, you're not giving those kids enough credit."

All Might stood himself up and looked at Carol.

"I mean hey, in all my years as a teacher and even as a student, we always had students walking in blind and freezing up the minute a Sentinel locked onto their target. But you know what? Every single one of those kids gave it their all in one way or another. Every. Single. One of them. Whether it was through combat, or rescue, they watched each other's backs and put in the team effort, whether they liked it or not. Believe me, when I was younger I believed the Danger Room was the biggest risk in this school, but now looking back, I don't think I could have my resolve as a hero if I didn't go through that."

She walked over and placed a hand gingerly on All Mights shoulder.

"And I hear that your kids have had more than one sticky situation that would scare the pants off of anyone else. Not saying that they wouldn't still be, but they have the experience and the resolve to push past that fear and do the job. I'm not saying they won't ever need you, you're a huge part of their lives; but know that if those kids didn't have each other's backs before, they certainly do now."

All Might was warmed by Carols words; why should this be any different than the USJ Attack? The students of Yuuei have proven themselves time and again. All Mights smile returned as he looked up to notice Carol now had both hands on his shoulders, and she was much closer now.

The Symbol of Peace felt warmer.

"Toshinori." Carol spoke softly this time, but still with sternness. "You are one of the greatest heroes I have ever known, so don't go depriving yourself of the credit either. No matter what happens to you, you are there for your students whenever you can be. You're only human. Yes, a human that could probably blow the moon apart, but still human. Have faith in yourself and them."

As they separated, still only about a foot apart, the comforting warmth in All Mights stomach didn't distract him from absorbing Carols council. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah... you're right, as usual Carol. Thanks for the talk."

Carol smiled sweetly, making All Might feelings only worse. Staring at one another for a moment, All Mights expression dropped.

"Carol...I...I should've called. I shouldn't have just left like that. I'm sorry for that. I could apologize a thousand times over and it still wouldn't feel enough, because all I can think about is the old days and how I ruined a future for-"

"Us?" Carol cut in, causing All Might to pause again, looking to the side in shame.

"I haven't talked about it much with my colleagues, or my students but...my future, as the Number One Hero and the Symbol of Peace...it isn't for long."

Carols eyes grew sad as she really took in her former lovers physical state for the first time since he had arrived. All Might couldn't even look at her.

"It's been getting worse for a long time now, but recently I've been feeling it...I'm losing my power. And I knew that before anything happened I couldn't live with myself if I didn't have a chance to say-"

Carol grabbed Toshinori's chin and pulled him into a kiss. As she held his face, All Mights insides exploded with the force of a Detroit Smash. The softness of her lips hadn't changed in the years gone by. This confirmed it: Carol Danvers was just as lovely and amazing as she had ever been. When they finally separated, Toshinori couldn't even speak, even less so when he noticed Carols blush to match with her smile.

"Toshinori Yagi, power or not you will always be my hero, don't you ever say things like that to me ever again. You're just giving yourself more to apologize for." As she began walking out of the room, she turned back to the stunned hero with a playful smirk. "And when you finally do retire, you'll have all the time in the world to make it up to me."

Blue eyes widened, Toshinori thought that he'd have a heart attack. It was going to be an interesting week.

TODOROKI

"HHRRRRAAAAAAGHH!!!"

Todoroki sent another iceberg into the crowd of holographic training dummies in the MA gym. Then a torrent of flame to another group. More ice. More fire. It was never enough. It would never be enough. The boy collapsed on his hands and knees, sweating and out of breath. Iida, Uraraka, Miles, Kamala, and Sam we're trading on the other side of the gym when they rushed to their classmates side.

Sam got the first word in. "Holy crap! Now THAT'S power!"

"Todoroki!" Uraraka exclaimed worriedly. "That's enough, you've done enough!"

"Yes my friend, you shouldn't push yourself so hard all at once." Iida chimed in, helping Todoroki up. "As your class representative, I order you to go to the infirmary to recover immediately!"

Todoroki shrugged off Iida's helping hand. "Who are you to give me orders?"

The others were silent. He could see that they weren't about to let up.

"Apologies, I'll be on my way, but for the moment I'd just like to be alone."

He glanced at their concerned faces.

"Please."

Iida suddenly motioned towards his companions. "All right everyone, let's take a break and give Todoroki some space! We shall meet up with Midoriya on the way to the headmasters office!"

Such a doting brother figure! Uraraka thought to herself.

As the group left the young man to his thoughts he looked around at the damage he had caused, and thinking back to the leveled cityscape in the Danger Room. He was so fixated on the memory he hadn't noticed the water bottle next to his face. He turned to see Jubilee at his side.

"Hey! That was some rough training! You should really stay hydrated after all of that!"

After taking a seat on the nearby benches and graciously accepting the much needed water, Todoroki noticed his new friends thoughtful face. "What is it?"

Jubilee leaned back, swinging her feet back and forth. "It's nothing really, among other things, I was just worried after what happened in the Danger Room."

Todoroki looked downward. "Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. Those robots didn't frighten me, not even the broken city around me or the danger my comrades were in caused me to freeze in place." He looked down at his hands. "I was afraid of...myself."

Jubilee looked over at him, her head cocked to the side. "What do you mean?"

"My whole life I trained for moments like those, I was born for the sole purpose of wielding the power I possess. Yet...with all of my power...I couldn't save you. I couldn't save one person, no matter what I did. I had never felt so...powerless. Not for a long time."

Jubilee looked back up and swung her feet again. "Well, I wouldn't beat myself up about it. We're still training, right? I mean, I still think the only reason I even got into the hero course was just so I could keep an eye on my brother, so I feel like I have a lot to prove too. Just keep moving forward, I always say. You'll get over this eventually. And when you look back as a full-fledged badass hero years from now, you're gonna look back and laugh at this moment when you realized I told you so." She finished her little speech with an amused smile, which Todoroki returned. She was probably right, of course.

"Oh, by the way. What were the other things you were thinking about?"

Jubilee stared into Todoroki's face with thought. "I guess it's nothing, really. It's just that you really remind me of my brother, in a lot of ways."

"You talk about your brother a lot." Todoroki responded. "So what's his deal anyway? I've never seen anyone with a quirk like that."

Todoroki was slightly alarmed when Jubilees face showed signs of sorrow at the mere mention of her brothers quirk. She was about to answer back when they were interrupted by heavy boot steps and a metallic voice.

"Sister...hanging with the nuisances, as usual."

Jonathon Starsmore had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and was now facing the two students where they were seated. The strange boys eyes twinkled with malice towards Todoroki. "You should keep your nose out of private matters. It's none of your business. Comrades or rivals, you're a nuisance to me all the same. My sister can spend time with whoever she damn pleases, but I very much insist that you don't pry into our lives."

Todoroki glared. "Did you want to add an 'or else' to that?"

Jonathon scoffed, and began to walk away, turning back to meet Todoroki's eyes one more time. "I'm going to remember you for that. If we meet in the ring, I'll have you on your knees. Scared. Just like in the Danger Room. You want to know my deal? My deal is people like you piss me off. People that stick their nose when they shouldn't belong. People like that should get a taste of my quirk."

With that, he left the gym, Jubilee frantically getting up and waving her fist at her brother. "YOU CAN SAY THAT TO MY FACE, Y'KNOW! YOU JERK!"

She turned back to Todoroki. "Sorry, I should follow him. I don't want him to get into any trouble because of his mood. I'll catch you later Todoroki!"

With that she was gone, leaving Todoroki fired up. That boy reminded him of how he was at the Sports Festival, so full of hatred. For some reason, he wanted to know why.

MILES

Aw man, I really needed this. Miles thought to himself as he swung through the Manhattan streets, the lights of the buildings blurred together each time he picked up speed. With all of the training lately, it was relaxing to just move about the city like this. It was nice of Ms. Danvers to let him go to the Hero Office he was interning at all. Especially at this time of night.

Not that it was unusual, of course. His mentor was pretty laid back about this kind of stuff, and took Miles out on late night missions busting super villains and crime syndicates all the time. This time though, Miles was just looking to cut loose before the tournament.

A ringing in his head!

Spider Sense? Miles twisted to the right, narrowly missing a fist flying towards his face as he caught himself on a flagpole, swinging around and launching off onto the side of a water tower. Looking around frantically, he failed to notice the figure next to him until it was too late.

"Nice reflexes!"

Miles yelped and fell down onto the roof of the building below, looking up at the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man standing sideways on the water tower looking at him.

"Great dodge, kid! You've really been honing your Spider-Sense!"

Miles groaned as he stood back up. "Seriously, boss? For all I knew, a goblin was about to take my head off!"

Miles didn't need to see under the mask to know that Peter Parker was smiling wide. "You gotta admit I had you for a second there! I teach you to be on guard, but you don't need to be so tense!"

"I was pretty relaxed until then..." Miles grumbled, taking a seat on the edge of the building.

Spider hopped down to take a seat next to his protege. "What's the deal kid? Our banter usually isn't this...broody."

"I don't know Spidey...I'm just thinking."

Miles turned to see his mentor waving a burger in his face. "Thinking, huh? Well no sidekick of mine is about to do any of that on an empty stomach!" The two smiled and lifted their masks halfway up so they could enjoy their meals.

"Mmmpf...so," Spidey picked up where they left off. "Whatcha been thinking about, my young Padawan?"

Rolling his eyes and took another bite out of his burger. "I just...I don't know."

"Is this about the tournament tomorrow?"

"Kind of? Maybe? It's definitely a part of it."

Miles put down his food and just stared off at the cars below. Spidey put his food down too.

"Hey, Miles. You can talk to me. If there's anything I'm good at, it's talking with people."

Miles held his breath, and simply asked. "Why am I doing this?"

Spidey didn't know what to say to that, so Miles kept going.

"I've just been thinking, it was a freak accident that gave me the same quirk as yours. Before all of this I never even thought about being a hero. I just never thought I had the guts or whatever to do the job. But the past few months swinging through the city with you and stopping thugs and purse snatchers has been great, in fact it's been the time of my life. It's not like I don't want to do more, it's just...whether I can? Whether I should? I just see my classmates and how strong they are, and the UA students and how strong they are...and I see myself and I feel like a cheap knockoff of you. And I'm going to go out there in front of thousands of people and I don't even have a hero name to call myself! So what does that make me? What does that say about the kind of hero I'm gonna be?"

The silence between teacher and student was undercut by the sounds of cars on the streets below.

"Miles...I want you to know something."

"I'm proud of you."

Miles looked up at his teacher, eyes slightly widened.

"I know you're not my kid or anything, but you're like my kid, y'know? When I found you trapped in that Oscorp lab three years ago, I couldn't help but want...no, need..to take you under my wing. It's like I always tell you, with great power, comes great responsibility. You had my quirk now, so I felt responsible to guide you in whatever path in life you chose to take. Because we share this power, everything you've done up to this point has amazed me. You've had your mistakes, sure, but you've never failed to impress me. I'm sure Gwen, Jessica, Ben, and Cindy would say the same."

Spidey turned to Miles and grabbed a hold of his shoulders.

"Listen to me kid, your life is yours, no one else's, you hear me? You don't wanna do the hero thing anymore, I'll support you, but you don't EVER call yourself a cheap knockoff...

...you're just a very expensive knockoff."

After a moment, the two wall crawlers started laughing. Now that the tension was broken, Spidey stood back up, with Miles following suit.

"Look, I try my best at all of this too. I'm not exactly like Carol or Luke, and especially not like Cap. I can't just spit out my 'sports movie coach pep talk' without being my silly self. All I can tell you is that you're your own man. You don't have to be me. You just be you. Well, you know what I mean."

Spidey looked down, and he didn't need to look under the mask to see he was smiling.

"Listen boss...I think you're doing pretty ok at all of this. The teacher thing I mean."

Spidey patted Miles on the head, which he knew he hated and would ruin the moment, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity. Crouching down with the hero in training overlooking the streets below, he knew it was high time for some action.

"Alright, Spider-Man, what do you say we find us some thugs and purse snatchers to wallop?"

Miles got ready. "Ready when you are, Spider-Man!"

The two leaped off the roof and swung across the city breeze, off on another adventure in hero duty.

Miles couldn't be happier.

THE NEXT DAY

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, ARE YOU READAYYYYYYYY?!?!!?"

The crowd within MA's outer campus limits roared in response to Present Mic's voice. He had flown out all the way there, insisting there was no way he'd miss it. The stadium itself had only been built in a matter of days, thanks to some help from Hank Pym and Stark Industries. Housing over 7,000 people of He public, the press, and hero agency representatives flocked for this unprecedented event. Most of the teachers watched from the sidelines or within the a special section of the bleachers. Midoriya didn't think he'd have to do one of these again so soon. He was already on the field with his classmates and new friends, waiting for the instruction to begin.

"Hey, Deku!" Uraraka callee to her best friend, who snapped out of the zone he was in.

"O-oh! Sorry Uraraka, this is just so cool!"

Uraraka pumped her fists up in the air. "I know, right? I gotta make sure I win my match this time! I'm all fired up!"

Suddenly she got real close to Midoriya, staring into his eyes with scary determination in her face, creating tomato red anxiety in Midoriya's.

"You better promise to win yours too, alright?"

Midoriya nodded so fast he felt dizzy. "Y-yeah U-Uraraka I'll d-do my best!!!"

The rest of the Yuuei students were abuzz with determination as well.

"Man, it's too bad we're not fighting each other again." Kirishima commented.

"And here I was thinking you were just afraid I'd beat you this time!" Tetsutetsu jabbed at him.

"I'd beat you losers any day. Let's just get this started so I can beat the other losers!" Bakugo said, prompting Kirishima to hold back Tetsutetsu.

Ashido held her finger to her chin in thought. "I just wanna know how these matches will work. We can't do a bracket with this number of people, can we?"

Iida started chopping the air with his hands. "No way! The tournament was designed specifically so only Yuuei students would be fighting Marvel Academy students!"

"I hear we'll be doing one on one fights, but I guess we'll see how it goes!" Kaminari interjected before Iida could get too excited.

ALRIGGGHHHHT! ATTENTION PEOPLE OF NEW YORK CITAAAAYYY! IT'S TIME TO GET READY TO RUMBLEEEE! BUT FIRST, HERE TO GIVE YOU THE GAME PLAN, IS THE STAR SPANGLED MAN WITH A PLAN, CAP-I-TAN AMERICAAAAA!!!"

The crowd cheered as the captain stepped forth into the referees stand overlooking the students.

"Alright, everyone, listen up! I know everyone here has been preparing non stop for this, so I won't take too long! The way this will work is simple! There will be a series of one on one matches, 17 in all! A Yuuei student versus an MA student! Each student that wins their match wins a point for their school! The school with the most points at the end wins the tournament!"

Midoriya listened carefully. "I see. This makes sense, although we have to be careful not to let MA get too far of a lead, or else there's no way we can win as a group!"

"Matches will be assigned randomly, thanks to the schools JARVIS AI system! The rules of engagement are simple: as long as you can get your opponent to surrender or send them out of the battle arena, you achieve victory! Our expert medical teams are on standby, so the idea is to go all out here! Your costumes and respective support equipment are permitted with submitted approval from your teachers' Do your school proud! Our very own professor of world history, Erik Lensherr, will be providing referee duties and will stop the fight if it gets too rough!"

"Erik Lensherr? Isn't he that crazy dangerous Magneto guy??" Kaminari said.

Midoriya raised his finger matter of factly. "It's true he was a villain in the past, but he actually helped found the school and was pardoned for his crimes!"

The Captain gestures towards the screen. "And now, we will unveil the list of matches for the tournament!"

The screen gave the list as follows:

1\. Hitoshi Shinso - Eli Bradley

2\. Hanta Sero - Franklin Richards

3\. Denki Kaminari - Gabrielle Kinney

4\. Mei Hatsume - Hiro Hamada

5\. Yuga Aoyama - Tyrone Johnson

6\. Mina Ashido - Tandy Bowen

7\. Izuku Midoriya - Miles Morales

8\. Ibara Shiozaki - Vivian Shade

9\. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu - Scott Summers

10\. Itsuka Kendo - David Alleyne

11\. Momo Yaoyorozu - Sam Alexander

12\. Tenya Iida - Tommy Shepherd

13\. Eijiro Kirishima - Danielle Cage

14\. Fumikage Tokoyami - Keemia Alvarado

15\. Ochaco Uraraka - Kamala Khan

16\. Katsuki Bakugo - Robbie Reyes

17\. Shōto Todoroki - Jonothan Starsmore

The classes suddenly rushed with different emotions.

Midoriya and Miles looked at each other in shock. IM FIGHTING WITH HIM?! Uraraka and Kamala thought the same. Bakugo scowled with malice towards Robbie, who scowled back. Jonathon simply ignored Todoroki. Ashido and Aoyama were scared.

Hitoshi Shinso simply stared at his name at the top of the screen.

"Ah, f-"

EPILOGUE

The Supreme watched the tournament unfold on his screens. He studied each and every student as they walked towards their seats in the bleachers.

"Dr. Zola!!"

The deranged scientist hobbled over to his commander.

"Doctor, have we received confirmation from our agent in the field?"

"Indeed, sir, we have received word that the plan to leak to the press has succeeded and our agent had infiltrated Marvel Academy space."

The Supreme simply nodded, focused on the screens in inhibited excitement and suspense, waving his hand at his underling without a word.

But the good doctor was not finished.

"Spit it out, Zola!"

The doctor became even more timid than before. "My lord, I have also learned that the Iron Man has discovered the wreckage of the AIM hideout! Should he discover us..."

"Bah! By the time Stark learns of us and warns his little Avengers, it will have been far too late. Everything is coming together...just as I have planned."

**_A/N_**

**_Finally! After months, a nice long chapter for you guys, and part two of the Marvel Academy Arc can begin! I also wanted to announce here that a companion story "MY HERO ACADEMIA - FROM THE FILES OF SHIELD" will be released alongside new chapters of the tournament section of the fic! This way you'll get to learn more about each competitor from the Marvel Academy before or after you read about the fight! Honestly I hadn't expected this to receive so much love, and thanks to that, I'll be sure to keep pushing on with this fic in the future! Thank you again for all of your support!_**

**_HERE'S THE PREVIEW: _**

**_The East Versus West Tournament is finally kicking off! Hitoshi Shinso of General Studies is up against a pretty strong guy, does he have what it takes?_**

**_NEXT TIME ON MY HERO ACADEMIA: _**

**_A WORLD OF MARVELS -_**

**_"LET THE GAMES BEGIN! SHINSO'S START LINE!"_**

**_GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!!!_**


	7. 7 - Shinso’s Start Line

The television reporters from the press section of the arena were presenting their commentary. A room claustrophobic with cameras and microphones, all pointed like a military armament towards the fighting stage and the children below.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. I'm Betty Brant with Daily Bugle TV, coming to you live at the arena where the World Quirk Competition will be underway in just a few short minutes. Heroes, sidekicks and other members of the hero community from all over the country have come to witness this momentous event, a competition between Japan's top hero school, UA High, and our very own Marvel Academy. 34 students are here to show off their quirks in single combat, all to mark a new alliance between two parts of the world. Just look at that crowd, everyone here is excited for this tournament!"

Shinso paid no mind to the crowd roaring around him, he had but one singular focus on the opponent in front of him. With a stoic face, he stepped to the fighting stage with a demeanor and determination to win. His eyes lined up with his opponent, the student from Marvel Academy he would fight. According to the match list, his name was Elijah Bradley. He'd never heard of him, but he knew well enough not to take him lightly. His costume was a dark blue vest jacket with red gloves and combat boots, and white pants as well. A classic All-American fare. The mask he wore troubled Shinso; the same color as the jacket and covering the nose and mouth, with a red domino-mask style imprint around the eyes. It would be difficult to get a read on his opponent. On top of that the guys build seemed to be barely contained by his suit. Shinso wondered if it would have been better to have Hatsume whip up something for him to wear other than his Yuuei gym clothes.

"AL-RIIIIIIIGHHHT, we are ready for the first match of the tournament! First to take the stage, looking like a walking flag, is ELIJAH BRADLEYYYY!"

Elijah stepped out, his shoulders relaxed as he took a deep breath, then walking towards the stage. The crowd cheered for their home-team player.

"Just LOOK at that determination! Here to help provide the facts for our killer audience is my cohost DEADPOOL!!"

The speakers suddenly boomed.

"W-W-W-W-What UUUUUP A-MERICAAAAA!! And hel-LO JAPAN!!! It's yer fav Merc With A Mouth and totally-not-a-Deathstroke-ripoff DEADPOOOOL!!! I'm with my boi Presentation Michael (you don't mind if I use your full name?) to give you lovely peeps the lowdown and play by play of the sick fights we're about to munch popcorn to!"

The teachers in the bleachers were somewhat less than enthused. Others were just...bemused.

"Geez..." Eraserhead remarked. "This guy sounds like he's going to be a pain."

All Might just shrugged and smiled reassuringly at his colleague. "Well...at least he has stage presence."

Present Mic seemed taken aback by his cohosts personality as well. "Well, um...why don't you give us the 411 on our first competitor?"

"You've got it, Present Michael Jordan! Up first from MA is Elijah Bradley, the rep of class 1-Y, sporting a badass patriotic outfit! Word on the grapevine is he's being groomed to be the big C.A.'s sidekick!"

All Might turned to his friend sitting next to him. "Is that true, Steve?"

Cap crossed his arms and looked towards the commentators booth disapprovingly. "I was sitting on that so I could make an official announcement when Eli was ready. I don't know how Wade is always finding out about these things."

Present Mic fired up before Wade could continue shooting his mouth off. "And stepping up next to the stage, he stole the spotlight at the Yuuei Sports Festival, but didn't quite make the cut! Back for another chance at victory, it's Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies!"

Shinso walked out without any hesitation, almost walking too fast onto the stage. His classmates watched from the students bleachers above. Izuku Midoriya paid special attention.

"Hey, Midoriya!" Kirishima leaned over from his seat to face Midoriya. "That Shinso guy...he's the one you fought in the Sports Festival, right?"

Midoriya jumped a little at his friends enthusiasm catching the boy off guard. "H-huh?? Oh, yes. He has the brainwashing quirk..."

Kirishima cut Midoriya off, his excitement taking his attention all over the place. "So, what do you think, Mr. Hero Analysis? Does the guy have a chance? He looks like he's seriously been bulking up since back then."

Midoriya stared intently at the scene, his hand on his mouth as he thought hard about his peer's chances of victory. He admitted that Shinso had changed in the time since the Sports Festival. It looked he had physically prepared for this tournament.

Back on the stage, Shinso still refused to look away from his opponent.

"Hey! You're name's Shinso, right?"

Shinso blinked a couple of times, breaking his death glare, looking at his opponent again. "Yeah, what about it?"

Elijah tactfully raised his right hand in greeting.

"My names Elijah! Although I suppose you know that already. I can tell by the look in your eyes that you're pretty pumped for this. That's good, I want to see what you've got!"

Shinso blinked again at Elijah.

What's with this guy? He's acting all serious and intimidating, but...he sounds so sincere.

Elijah lowered his hands and shot a good-natured look at Shinso.

"Listen, we don't know each other, and I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but you should really loosen up. Let's just enjoy the fight."

Shinso glared at Elijah.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's hope I don't make you eat those words."

Elijah's face grew serious at that response, the two making it clear that neither of them would be making this easy.

Present Mic fired up the amps. "ALL RIGHT COMPETITORS...LET THE FIRST MATCH...BEGIN!!!"

"Well, Midoriya? What do you think?" Kirishima asked again.

Iida was sitting next to Midoriya, and of course overheard Kirishima's question. "We have all seen his quirk in action, and it is quite strong. Even without knowing his opponents quirk, all Shinso needs to do is get his opponent to answer a question. I would think that this gives Shinso an advantage, as far as I can tell."

"No, he's definitely in trouble."

The rest of the class turned to Midoriya. "Huh? What do you mean, Midoriya?" asked Kirishima.

Midoriya continued to stare intently at the stage. "Shinso participated in the Sports Festival...that was publicly televised. That was how Professor Xavier knew about it in the first place. If any of the students here watched our fights...then Elijah knows exactly how Shinso's quirk works, and can counter it."

The rest of the students thought about this revelation. "That's true, I guess Shinso is at a real disadvantage if his opponent doesn't talk to him for the whole fight." Uraraka said with worry.

Kirishima was frustrated. "But that means that if everyone here watched us fight, we're all at a disadvantage here!"

"A troublesome thought." Tokoyami lamented. "All the more reason to keep up our guard around our new rivals."

"There's another issue with this match-up as well." Midoriya continued.

"Another issue? What's that?" Iida questioned.

Midoriya stared at Shinso. He was keeping his composure, but there was something in his face that Midoriya felt was amiss.

He then answered Iida's question. "Shinso is in the General Studies department. Think about it: everyone in the Hero Course has already had months of quirk and combat training, not to mention our experience with actual crisis situations. I bet the hero students here have had similar training, and Shinso is extremely lacking."

Midoriya had no idea how right he was, as Shinso clenched his fist in the hope that it would hide the sweat in his palms.

Damn, I'm in a fix here. Despite all of the bravado I just spat out, I'm sweating bullets!

He recalled his defeat at Midoriya's hands. Shinso steadied himself.

My best card has already been shown. If I can't use my quirk, I might as well cry uncle now.

The two fighters stared in fighting positions, waiting for the other to make the first move.

He was fast. That was Shinso's first thought when Elijah sprinted at him. The fighting stage was 30 meters in length. Elijah stood at least 20 away from Shinso, and he closed the gap before the Yuuei student could think about his first move. He was behind him by the time he started to turn his head, ready to fire off a straight punch from his right arm to Shinso's head. Time slowed down as Shinso's gaze turned to meet Elijah's attack, purple irises fixated on blood-red fist. In that instant everyone present in the arena held their breath.

But...just because I might not have a chance...

Shinso's eyes grew wild.

...doesn't mean...

He ducked the punch.

...I WON'T TRY TO KICK HIS ASS!!!

Pivoting after his dodge, Shinso shot for a straight uppercut, but Elijah just barely blocked it with his free left hand in time.

"AMAZING!!! ELIJAH TRIED TO MAKE THE FIRST HIT BUT SHINSO COUNTERED JUST IN TIME!!!"

The crowd roared along with Present Mic, and Shinso's peers were shocked.

"Woah! Did you guys see that? He timed that perfectly!" Kirishima exclaimed.

Shinso's look of fear turned into a smirk as he struggled to hold his ground against Elijah. In the bleachers Franklin was smirking too.

"What the heck are you smiling about?" Valeria annoyingly asked her brother.

"Nothing. It just looks like this tournament is going to be interesting after all."

"Woah!" Uraraka exclaimed. "Where did Shinso learn those moves!"

Shinso gave ground to his opponent and leaped back, taking a defensive position. Elijah smiled in anticipation as he rushed his opponent again. Keeping his fists close in a tight boxer's formation, he launched jab after jab and hook after hook at Shinso. Although he was barely dodging, he was dodging all the same.

"HA!" Tommy Shepard shouted from the MA bleachers. "Guess he got lucky! Eli's still giving him a hard time!"

The Yuuei students were concerned as well.

"He's barely dodging...if this keeps up he won't last." Yaoyorozu commented.

"I guess he just got lucky..." Sero said.

Miles and his friends looked at the battle intently. "Yeah, it sure looks like he's in trouble..." Miles wondered.

"Don't be stupid." Everyone turned to look at Robbie. "Use your training, and look closer at the battle."

"Shut up, idiots." the Yuuei class turned to Bakugo. "Pay attention, if you really want to be heroes, you'd know better!"

Tetsutetsu got out of his seat. "WHAT'D YOU SAY BASTARD?!" Kirishima tried his best to hold his friend back.

Shinso continued to weave back and forth, Eli's gloved fists grazing Shinso's cheek. Their peers continued to watch as Robbie and Bakugo stared intently at the careful choreography, the shifting in each fighter's eyes, the position of their feet.

Robbie spoke again. "He may be at a disadvantage, but he's doing better than you think."

Bakugo continued. "That brainwashing bastard isn't helpless, he's compensating for his physical weakness, and looking for..."

Shinso watched Eli's left foot lift forward, his right hand reeling back. Shinso's eyes glowed with intensity. There!

Eli launched his right fist forward again, leaving his chest unguarded as Shinso sidestepped.

...AN OPENING!

Shinso swung his foot into Eli's side and grabbed his right arm, pulling him down by the arm to the ground, pulling the arm to Eli's back and holding him down.

The crowd cheered as the Yuuei students shouted in shock and surprise.

"Those moves were amazing! I had no idea Shinso could do anything combative at this level!" Midoriya raised his fist in victory.

Ashido jumped up and pumped her fists as well. "If our General Studies boy can do this, then we've got this tournament in the bag!"

"IS THAT IT? WHERE'S THE FLASH? THE BANG?? THE PIZAZZ??? This is the first match we're supposed to kick things off with a bang-"

Present Mic tried to push Deadpool aside. "Hey man, let's just wait and see what the ref says, yeah?"

Most of the MA students just watched studiously.

"I didn't think that Eli would go that easy on him." Kamala finally said aloud.

Shinso exhaled deeply, as relief or satisfaction, he wasn't entirely sure. A small grin formed on his face. He won, that was all that mattered. Finally, he had proved himself to Yuuei, and most importantly...

"Hey, listen..." Eli interrupted Shinso's unintentional gloating. "I just want you to know, I'm impressed. Seriously, you had some moves up your sleeve, and I didn't expect that. However, I think that there's something you should know. This whole time, I haven't used my quirk even once."

Shinso's eyes widened. He didn't use his quirk at all? This meant that those quick and powerful punches were his natural fighting ability and training! If he was that good normally, what's his quirk like?

"I know that you're probably feeling pretty high and mighty right now, and I'm sorry I had to trick you like that. I was just curious about how strong you were. In any case, you didn't seem to use your quirk either."

Eli noticed Shinso's dour face and smirked. "Well, maybe you'll start to show off more if I do."

If he does..?

Eli's face grew wild, grunting like he was in pain, almost distracting Shinso from the fact that he couldn't hold his grip on Eli's wrist. The reason being that the wrist appeared to be getting...larger?

Shinso stepped back as he watched Eli's muscles start to expand, the skin and suit contracting to define the newly chiseled physique that Eli seemed to create out of nowhere. Not that he wasn't impressive before, but this was on a whole other level. If he didn't look like Cap's protege before, he certainly did now.

Eli stood tall, facing his opponent once more with a reignited fire in his eyes behind the mask, reaching over his shoulder and arming himself with the shield he kept strapped to his back. Shinso grit his teeth as he returned to his previous defensive position, but this time it was flimsy, Eli's intimidation clearly working its magic.

Eli took a stance as well, shield forward-facing. "Alright, Hitoshi Shinso. Let's fight for real!"

Elijah Bradley! His Quirk: Olympian!

He can increase the amount of growth hormones his body produces to upgrade his body to the peak physical condition humans can reach! But producing too much can damage his bodily structure!

The students in the bleachers exhibited a mixture of emotions. Shinso's peers were growing ever more concerned about the outcome of the battle. Eli's peers on the other hand were cheering excitedly for their friend. Franklin in particular did not join his friends in the revelry, respecting his classmates performance with clapping, but at the same time worried for his new friend.

"After a fist fight on seemingly equal footing, Eli has activated his quirk and STOOD BACK UP! Will Shinso be able to fight back with his own power?" Present Mic called out to the crowd.

"HE'S SCREWED!" Deadpool interjected.

"It's worse than I thought." Midoriya muttered aloud. "He's well-trained, by Captain America no less. And he's got a physical enhancement quirk on top of all of that? He's definitely got the physical edge. Even if Shinso has done a little bit of training, he doesn't have the experience to beat Shinso in a fist fight. His only choice then is to use his quirk, but even thenheneedstogetElitoansweraquestionandit'sunlikelyhewillgetachancetospeaksincehisopponenthasalreadyrushedhimtwiceandnowhe'sevenmore-"

"SHUT IT YOU DAMN NERD WE GET IT!" Bakugo finally yelling down Midoriya, who was shocked out of his muttering.

Shinso was starting to shake again. They were staring each other down once more, the roar of the crowd urging them on a backdrop for the coming final act.

Damn, Shinso thought. I'm outmatched, I can tell just by looking at the guy. I need to get him to talk again, then I can use my quirk...

Eli gave him no time as he delivered a right cross into Shinso's face, sending him flying a few feet across the fighting stage. Jumping back, Shinso attempted to regain his composure but was met with Eli's shield being ricocheted off of the ground and upwards into Shinso's chin, the shield flying up into the air. Blow after blow, Shinso had no chance of defending himself as another connection with Eli's knuckles split Shinso's lip. Spitting blood, Shinso nearly stumbled to the floor but Eli grabbed his uniform to hold him up.

Eli looked on his opponent's battered face, and despite the mask covering it up, there was not a hint of satisfaction there. Despite his determination, Shinso didn't put up the fight Eli thought that he would.

"I don't understand." Eli looked guilty and disappointed at the same time. "You had such a fire in you, is this your best? Because for some reason, I don't believe that. You should know, I didn't research your performance in the UA Sports Festival. So, I have no clue what your quirk is. If you didn't use it, then my only guess can be that it was a disadvantage when up against my own quirk."

Shinso's eyes squinted in the sunlight at Eli. That power made Eli so strong. His quirk was a disadvantage? It was just like back then...with Midoriya, and all the others that made it ahead of him with their flashy powers. No...that's no excuse. He could have tried to use his quirk earlier, but instead he tried to play his opponent at his own game. Why didn't he use his own quirk?

"When you fight, you need to use every tool in your arsenal." Eli continued. "You have some serious moves, but unless you use everything you've got when you need to, you'll never have that chance. I didn't want to know what your quirk is because I didn't want an unfair advantage, I wanted a fight on equal footing. If your quirk is that much of a disadvantage in your eyes, then your school isn't teaching you well." Eli sighed. "I'm going to take you out of the ring now. You fought a good fight, but it's over now."

Eli began to carry Shinso to the edge of the ring. Blood dripping down his chin, Shinso internally panicked. There was no way it would end like this. Taken out of the ring, powerless to do anything again!

"Hey!"

Eli slowed his walk to a stop, merely few feet from the edge. Shinso's eyes lit up once more, his purple irises glowing in an intense violet at his opponent. Reduced to desperation, he threw out a desperate animal cry to his enemy.

"You want to know about my quirk, huh??"

Eli looked at Shinso, his grip on the Yuuei uniform no looser.

"Actually, yes-"

Eli fell silent, and Shinso smiled.

"Put me down."

Eli opened his hand, dropping Shinso to the floor. Dusting himself off, he stood up to face Eli.

"Well? This is my quirk. It's called Brainwashing, I think that it speaks for itself. You're under my control now, and right now? I want you to turn around and walk out of the ring."

Eli turned around, and began a calm, lazy walk towards the edge of the ring. The crowd cried out in confusion at this development.

Cap was shocked. "What's going on? Eli! What are you doing?!"

Shinso continued to smile. Victory was finally in his reach, he was really lucky that his opponent was so willing to be fair. He should know that this world of quirks isn't.

"Don't worry, you're almost to the edge now. I have to thank you for deciding to be so kind to me in this fight. I appreciate it, I really do. I admit you did have me at a disadvantage, that quirk of yours is very strong. I actually wasn't sure if I wanted to show my hand at the very beginning. You wanted to gauge me? I suppose I wanted to gauge myself as well. Guess there's some room for improvement, but regardless...I guess you should learn to be more careful when counting someone out of the game!"

That was when the shield came back down from the air and landed on Eli's head, knocking him to the ground. Everyone stopped at this, Shinso's eyes growing wide.

"Ah shi-"

Eli sprung back up and grabbed Shinso's uniform with both hands, swinging and tossing him over the edge of the ring. Shinso tumbled on the ground until he lay on his back. The crowd cheered once more as Eli claimed victory. Magneto raised his hand to Shinso.

"SHINSO IS OUT OF BOUNDS! ELI BRADLEY WINS THE MATCH!"

The crowd cheered more, as Shinso smacked his fist on the ground in frustration.

To think...mere coincidence bringing me down...

The shadow of an outstretched arm blocked his view.

"Need a hand?"

Shinso grabbed Eli's hand and pulled himself up. "Thanks."

The two looked at each other pretty awkwardly. Suddenly Eli grabbed Shinso's hand and raised it up to the crowd.

"Let's hear it for this guy, everyone! Hitoshi Shinso of UA High!"

A roar from the crowd told Shinso everything he needed to know, and Franklin cheered for him as well. The crowd was cheering for Shinso, and for the first time in this entire trip, he began to swell with pride. Eli suddenly patted Shinso on the back.

"That quirk is great! You have great timing and strategic coordinating as well! I almost lost there! Great job!"

Awkwardly smiling in gratitude, Shinso rubbed the back of his head. "Heh...thanks. You did great too."

Cap turned to the other teachers. "Eli did a good job, but your student did just as well to me, Toshinori."

All Might happily shrugged. "Actually Steve, I wouldn't really say he's my student. To tell the truth, the other departments in Yuuei often feel pretty overshadowed by the Hero Course. Shinso's desire to be a hero speaks for all of his peers who feel that they were cheated out of their chance."

Coming out of the infirmary, Shinso made his way to his classmates. Looking down at the bruising from his defensive wounds, he wondered how much worse this fight could have gone if he fought anyone else.

"Shinzo! Hatoshi Shinzo!" He turned to see a brown-haired woman in a pantsuit holding a microphone running towards him, a camera man following close behind.

"You mean me?" Shinso pointed at himself sarcastically. The woman caught up to him, taking a moment more to catch her own breath.

"Betty Brant, Daily Bugle TV, can I get a statement from you regarding your match?"

"Shinso. Hitoshi Shinso. At least get my name right please."

The reporter was flustered by her mistake, but there was something so obviously fake about it that Shinso would have rather she were unapologetic about it.

"OH, I apologize, this is so embarrassing! If its alright with you, can I ask you a few questions?"

Shinso begrudgingly agreed.

"Gr-eat! How does your brutal loss make you feel?"

"Well, I-"

"What about your quirk? Do you think its potential danger to society is what got you stuck in General Studies? Do you harbor any resentment towards your peers?"

"Get lost."

Betty and Shinso turned to Aizawa approaching them from down the hall, his eyes glaring with red. Stepping between them, Aizawa began to stare down the reporter.

"Are you deaf? I told you to leave."

Betty huffed, aggravated at the Erasure Hero's interference. "Fine! Another time then. Guess you've never heard of freedom of the press around here. Let's go!"

Betty stormed back to the press box, her cameraman stumbling behind her. Ensuring that the nuisance was now absent, Aizawa turned back to the stunned young man.

"Why didn't you use your quirk earlier in the match?"

Taken aback, Shinso hung his head low. "I suppose...I wanted to put your training to good use."

Aizawa sighed. "If you wanted to do that, you would've been more logical about it. Sure you understand the fundamentals of combat now that I've taught you, but you're still way too wet behind the ears to rely on that alone in a fight like this."

Aizawa looked at Shinso, sighing once more and scratching your head. "But...you weren't completely useless. Actually you did better than I had anticipated. Nice work, Shinso."

Shinso raised his head to look at his mentor, not smiling, but beaming at the unexpected praise.

"Th-thank you, Aizawa-sensei!"

Aizawa paid no mind to the sentimentality, as per usual. "Don't mention it. Now get back to the bleachers, you don't want to miss the next match, and I'm sure your classmates want to see how you're doing."

"Yes sir!"

Shinso made his way to the seats, Aizawa making sure he wasn't walking funny from his injuries.

"HEY AIZAWA!"

Aizawa jumped back as All Might flew around the corner and zipped right in front of his colleague, trademark smile in place.

"I AM HERE...TO SEE WHERE YOU WENT!"

Aizawa groaned. "It's none of your business, All Might. Let's go back already."

The two pros walked together, and All Might had a pep in his walk as he smiled knowingly at Aizawa.

"It's funny how you scold me for taking a liking to Young Midoriya...when you've done the same for Young Shinso!"

Aizawa became increasingly bothered by All Might's presence as the No.1 Hero shot him a double thumbs up.

"GOOD FOR YOU, ERASER-SENSEI!"

"ALRIGHT, I get it All Might, let's go back already!"

All Might was sheepish the entire walk back as the next match in the tournament was gearing up.

**_A/N_**

**_Another chapter down! Which school will take the next match, I wonder? Let me know in the comments! Please check out the spinoff story "MY HERO ACADEMIA: FROM THE FILES OF SHIELD", now with chapters dedicated to the Marvel Academy heroes. Learn their backstories, quirks, and other stats!_**

**_HERE'S THE PREVIEW:_**

**_Izuku Midoriya here! We're all on edge since Marvel Academy won the first match, but that doesn't mean we're giving up without a fight!_**

**_And I'll be sure to show off my babies at the same time!_**

**_M-MEI? MEI HATSUME?! But you're not up next!_**

**_Forget those other guys, I've got a special NEW baby to show off in my match, and everyone is going to LOVE IT!_**

**_NEXT TIME ON MY HERO ACADEMIA: A WORLD OF MARVELS_**

**_"HATSUME'S FIGHTING SPIRIT!!"_**

**_Let's show the Marvel Academy how we GO BEYOND!_**

**_PLUS ULTRA!!!_**


	8. 8 - Hatsume’s Fighting Spirit!

"With the end of the first match, that leaves the current score 1-0, MA's favor!"

"I'm sorry if I let you guys down." Shinso rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment at the announcement.

"What are you talking about, dude?" Mina exclaimed. "You were totally awesome out there!"

Kaminari turned back and gave Shinso a thumbs up. "Yeah man, we had no idea you could make moves like that! Way to go!"

Shinso hoped he hadn't allowed himself to blush as he took a seat towards the back alongside Todoroki and Tokoyami, Bakugo just a few seats over. Uraraka whispered to Midoriya that it was the "Dead Serious Boys Row" and he had to try to keep them from hearing her chuckle.

"Well, in any case I didn't win, so it's not exactly a great start to this tournament. So, who's going up next?"

"Sero." Yaoyorozu answered. "He already left to get ready. I believe he's going to battle a student named...Franklin Richards?"

Shinso sighed. "Well, if that's the case, he's already lost."

His classmates looked at him perplexed as Shinso thought back to the raw power he witnessed in the Danger Room. At the time he was horrified by the twisting of metal and the immense shockwave of mental energy, but now he couldn't help but become curious about how Franklin would use his power in a fight like this.

Back on the stage, Sero braced his arms, preparing himself. As ready as he was, he was unnerved by the outcome of the last fight, but not as much as he was by Franklins lax attitude.

"Hey man, I hope you're not going to hold anything back! I may not be the strongest in my class, but I'm no pushover!" Sero's expression turned sour when Franklin yawned in response. "What's your deal man, I'm serious!"

Franklin looked amused by Sero as he waved him off half-apologetically. "Sorry man, I'm not trying to look down on your skills or anything, I just can't psyche myself out too much." He saw that Sero was insulted by his explanation and shrugged. "Look, don't take it personally. My suits in the shop right now, so if I were to go all out, I might lose control."

Back in the bleachers, Franklin's sister Valeria had her laptop out, seemingly oblivious to the goings-on down below. Jubilee noticed from behind her. "Hey Val, whatcha up to? Doing some strategic research on the UA students quirk?"

Valeria didn't even look away to address her classmate. "Nah, working ahead on my physics lessons."

"WHAAAT?! YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING YOUR BROTHER AND CLASSMATES FIGHT, NOT DOING HOMEWORK THREE WEEKS IN ADVANCE!" Jubilee scolded.

Valeria was unfazed by Jubilee's outburst. "What's the use? We both know he's going to win." Jubilee sat back down, exchanging a look of disapproval to one of annoyance. As a certified genius, Valeria Richards had a tendency to be extremely blunt about things. Jubilee crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. With attention away from her, Valeria stole a glance of the arena and to her brother below.

There's no question he will win, our parents and uncles would say so with absolute certainty. I reviewed the Danger Room footage myself, and there is no doubt in my mind that my brother has vast reserves of untapped potential. If only he had the patience and studious nature to perfect it. She rolled her eyes annoyedly as Franklin yawned once more. Well, we can't all be me I suppose.

Present Mic called the crowds attention. "ALRIIIIGHT ladies and gentleman! Our next fighters are now on the battle stage, and boy does one of them look bored! So without further ado, let the second match BEGIN!!!"

Sero rubbed his elbows, his anticipation and growing nerves excruciating. "You don't want to lose control, huh? If you're so sure you're gonna beat me, THEN I HOPE YOU CAN BACK IT UP!" Sero turned quickly, left elbow aimed, dispensing a straight line of tape that wrapped around his targets feet, binding them. Franklin looked down, slightly surprised. With a sly grin, Sero pulled, spinning Franklin into place as he launched a second continuous stream of tape. "I didn't get to use this during my final exam, but now is a good chance to show off my new special move...TAPE COCOON!" Sero grabbed the tape and yanked down, forcing Franklin to stop and hit the ground, completely wrapped up from his feet up to his chin.

"woOOOOOOWWW!!! Sero kicks off the fight with an ingenious capture move! Richards is completely immobilized!!!" Present Mic fired off finger guns excitedly.

"YA BOIS WRAPPED UP LIKE A HOT TAMALE HEADED TO THE OVEN!" Deadpool fired off real guns, until Mic smacked him down.

"Looks like he's taking a page from your playbook, Aizawa." All Might remarked. Aizawa just watched and crossed his arms. "Well, it's a logical application of his quirk."

Yaoyorozu placed a hand on her mouth in dismay. He planned to use this move on Midnight during the final? She shuddered to think of what Mineta would have done if Sero had the chance to use it.

Sero's smirk never left as the crowd continue to cheer. "Not bad, huh? More than you expected? Well I'm not done!" Grabbing the tape tether, Sero began to swing Franklin around until Franklin was in the air. "I learned this in the Danger Room exercise!"

"Amazing!" Midoriya drew out his hero notebook. "Sero's going to gain enough momentum to throw Franklin out of the arena in one throw! His special is effective for capturing AND attacking!"

It's more than that. Todoroki thought to himself. He remembered Sero doing something similar to him at the Sports Festival. He's taken his experience in previous battles and is using it to improve his technique. Not only is his opponent completely immobilized, he's trapped while airborne.

Sero took one final swing, sending Franklin careening out of bounds. "I don't care WHAT your quirk is pal, there's no way it can be very effective while you're trapped AND in the air!"

Then Franklin stopped falling.

The whole crowd went silent as Sero was frozen with confusion. Franklin was just floating mid-air! "W-what the hell!?" Sero cried out. "He's flying! No, floating! I didn't plan for this!"

Franklin yawned as he levitated back to the stage. "You're strategy wasn't half bad, I can't move a muscle in here. But you're wrong you know. It's not my quirk, it's an application of it, just like what you did." Landing upright, he squinted hard, and the tape that kept him tied up disintegrated into dust. Patting himself down, he crossed his arms, looking more determined than before.

Sero was starting to panic. I wanted to end this quickly! What the heck is this guys quirk?? Acting out of desperation, Sero launched tape from both elbows at once, rapidly flying at Franklin. Holding up his hands, the tape stopped mid-air just inches from his body. Chuckling, he looked straight into Sero's eyes.

"Your quirk is strong, but when it comes to quirks and our current levels, this was a bad matchup for you."

Gesturing with his hands, Franklin started controlling the tape, sending it back to Sero and in a whirlwind of motion, Sero was suddenly wrapped up in his own quirk! With one more gesture of his hand, Sero was pushed out of the ring and sent rolling around the ground. Magneto rose from the referee stand.

"Sero is out of bounds! The winner of this battle is Franklin Richards of Marvel Academy!" Magneto turned to the fallen Sero. "Sero...are you able to move?"

Sero's teeth were chattering as he tried to keep it together. "OF COURSE NOT!" It's just like last time with Todoroki!!! he thought to himself.

Todoroki had turned away from the arena. It's just like last time with me.

"WHY ME???" Sero cried out.

Magneto sighed and returned to his seat. "Someone get this young man cut out of his bonds."

So cold... The students thought.

Franklin stood stoically as he twirled Sero back to the stage. "Sorry buddy, I didn't want to drag it out longer than I had to, but you still need training if you want to beat me!"

Franklin Richards! His Quirk: Mind Bend!

His psionic powers grant him extraordinary mental abilities, including telepathy, telekinesis and levitation! The limits of his power are unknown, so he needs to use his power sparingly. Using too much of his power can also inhibit his brain capacity!

As expected, he won with that impressive quirk. Not only that, he knows just how to use it in specific combat situations. Shinso watched as Sero stomped away from the stage in frustration.

Franklin made his way to the bleachers when he ran into his sister. "Hey Val! Come to congratulate me?"

"No, I just came to make sure you didn't get lost on the way back!" she scoffed.

Franklin laughed as the two started walking together. "On the defensive as usual! I'm actually surprised you're not neck deep in your work right now!" Franklin's lips suddenly curled into a frown. "That reminds me...I didn't check before, but were mom and dad watching?"

Valeria jolted suddenly at the question, turning her gaze away from her twin. "Well...mom called a few minutes ago. She was watching, as a matter of fact, Uncle Ben and Uncle Johnny too! They told me to congratulate you for them. But...she told me that dad was in the lab. He missed the fight."

Franklin's frown turned into a scowl. "Typical. It's not like it lasted long. Wouldn't have killed him to spare a couple of minutes."

Oh, Franklin, I wish the two of you understood one another better.

The twins made their way back to their friends, the victory now a bittersweet one. Sero's classmates were rather upset as well.

"MANNNNN I was REALLY hoping Sero would win this one!" Ashido whined.

"Well, there's nothing to be done about it now, we can only prepare ourselves for the next fight and improve ourselves moving forward!" Iida shot his hand into the air in an inspiring manner. "Kaminari! You are next, correct?"

Kaminari winked and gave a thumbs up. "That's right guys, it's MY turn! I'm gonna win this thing no matter what, I won't let you guys down!"

MINUTES LATER

"HOLY CRAP THIS IS IMPOSSIBLEEEE!!!"

Kaminari was yelling as he bounded around the arena avoiding his opponent, who was chasing him relentlessly.

"I'M GONNA SHRED YOU INTO STRING CHEESE YOU DUMBASS!"

Kaminari's opponent, Gabrielle Kinney, was running after her prey on all fours, pairs of claws on each of her hands and feet as she resolved to gut the moron that so foolishly tried to hurt her.

THE START OF THE FIGHT...

Kaminari stood face to face with his opponent, a girl about a head shorter than he, but with a fierceness in her eyes he couldn't place.

Man, the fire in her eyes is kinda hot! No, focus Denki! You've got a match to win! You promised your friends and your school!

Kaminari held his hands at the ready, preparing for the coming fight. "I bet you're pretty strong, huh? I can't wait to see what you've got! But don't think for a a second about underestimating me!"

Gabrielle grinned darkly as she braced her arms in a fighting stance as well. "Well, if you insist. Not a very smart move to ask me to go all out, but I'll play your game."

"ALLLLLRIIIIGHT!!!! IF THE COMBATANTS ARE READY, THEN THE THIRD MATCH CAN BEGIN!!!"

Gabrielle sped towards her target, her sharp fangs glistening as she bared them in a scary determination. Kaminari stood his ground and raised his hands.

"What..?"

"HA! Too bad I'm gonna end this in one stroke! Now that your close you've fallen into my trap, and now this attack is gonna be at its most effective! Here goes: INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK: 1.2 MILLION VOLTS!!!"

An instant after a bright flash, a torrent of electrical bolts discharged from Kaminari's person, dousing the arena in a storm of pure energy. Trapped in a net of electricity, Gabrielle was completely engulfed in the shocking attack, screaming in agony. Kaminari fell on one knee as the electricity dissipated, and Gabrielle fell onto the ground, unconscious and smoking.

"Heh...I figured if I decreased the discharge of my Indiscriminate Shock by even the smallest possible margin, I could keep myself from turning into an idiot and still use a powerful move!"

That was good reasoning on Kaminari's part, not too bad, considering the amount of time that's passed since the Sports Festival and the Final Exam, Aizawa thought.

"ALL RIGHT DUDE!" Kirishima, Tetsutetsu and Sero pumped their fists together in celebration.

Kaminari staggered to his feet as he rubbed his forehead, looking down on his fallen foe and smirking. "Guess...I win this round! Too bad I couldn't see more of your quirk though."

"D-don't worry, I ain't done yet..."

Kaminari's eyes slowly widened, gasping for air as he attempted to get his bearings about what he was seeing. Despite what everyone believed, Gabrielle was standing up as if nothing had happened!

Her eyes darkened by shadows, Gabrielle grinned wider in excitement.

"Glad you've got some charge left, bolt-boy. 'Cause I've got some moves I want to show you too! Let's savor this match..." Closing her hands into fists a pair of shining metal claws sprang out of each hand, her eyes shining like a stalking predator "...bub!"

Gabrielle Kinney! Her Quirk: Apex Predator!!

Just like the man she was cloned from, Gabrielle has a strong animal instinct, along with enhanced senses and agility, not to mention some scary retractable claws! To boot, she has a powerful healing factor that repairs injuries almost instantly! However, it can take some time for her stamina to recover completely depending on how serious the injury she's healing from is!

Kaminari was stammering, unable to find words. There's no way she can come to that quickly after an attack that strong! Just how durable is she???

Miles sighed from the stands. "Jeez, if he had known to throw her out of bounds immediately after that attack, he might have actually managed to win. Of course now that she's recovered he doesn't stand a chance."

"She should still be cautious." Kamala's classmates turned to her. "If he can use another attack like that, Gabby's stamina won't last the match. She needs to end it now."

"Yeah, but..." Nova held up a hand. "That chick is nuts in the head man! We know her better than that...she likes to play with her food!"

The MA students agreed with a shudder as Kaminari found it difficult to stand his ground.

"I don't believe it! Even after my indiscriminate shock, you still managed to get back up! What the heck are you made of?!"

Gabrielle chuckled to herself as she readied her claws. "I just heal real fast...ready for more?"

After eyeing her claws for another moment, Kaminari's eyes grew wide with fear once again as a sudden realization hit him with a ton of bricks. "W-w-w-wait! Y-you're..."

Gabrielle's eyes grew wild. "Guess you recognize the trademark? My dad's pretty ferocious by reputation, my sister Laura too! Don't let that scare you too bad though..."

Gabrielle pounced like a jungle cat at Kaminari. "...Because I want to play with you a little longer!"

Falling on Kaminari, Gabrielle pinned him down, and he raised his hands defensively.

Too bad those hands accidentally grabbed her breasts in the process...

Kaminari's eyes widened. The crowds eyes widened. Gabrielle's eyes widened with fury. "N-n-no wait, I'm-"

"YOU * BASTARRRRRRD!!!"

Kaminari managed to slip beneath the furious girl as she plunged the claws on her right hand into the arena floor. Running for his life, Kaminari started shrieking as Gabrielle was hot on his heels.

Somewhere Mineta was watching and saluting his fallen comrade.

Carol sighed along with her colleagues. "Well...she does take after Logan..."

Luke stretched back in exasperation. "It's the problem I've been trying to get a handle on all semester. Kid's got a serious temper, but I guess it's as much a part of her as it is for her dad. Guess in this case it might be deserved, huh?"

Cap looked on disapprovingly. "Well, in any case, if this keeps going, she might actually kill the kid."

All Might and Eraser tried to keep their eyes on the match and not listen to the other teachers.

All Might was fraught with worry. Aw man, Young Kaminari's in for it...

Aizawa grimaced. What a moron.

Kaminari kept running until he fell off of the fighting stage and on his face. Gabrielle attempted to give chase but was lifted in the air by Magneto, who kept his distance as she slashed and waved her claws wildly, snarling in blaring anger.

"Hmmm...as impetuous as your father." Magneto scowled as he levitated Gabrielle back to the arena. "KAMINARI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! GABRIELLE KINNEY IS THE WINNER!"

The crowd roared as Kaminari stumbled in a nervous daze out of the arena, and Gabrielle needed to be escorted back inside by Magneto. She was calling Kaminari a pervert the whole time.

Midoriya didn't know what to think about this development. She's treating Kaminari how the girls usually treat Mineta...

I'm surprised none of us have done that to Mineta yet... Ashido thought to herself wishfully.

"Man, poor Kaminari." Uraraka commented. "He didn't get to last too long in his fight, did he?"

"I thought he'd at least last longer than me!" Sero added.

"I'm sorry but, that was just really...embarrassing." Kendo remarked begrudgingly.

Tokoyami closed his eyes and nodded in agreement. "It is regrettable. However, I would be more concerned about the current score right now."

"YEAH, BIRD-BRAIN'S RIGHT! YOU IDIOTS NEED TO START KICKING ASS!" Bakugo shook his fists at his peers.

"That worried about us, Bakugo?" Kirishima asked his friend.

"OF COURSE NOT, DUMBASS I JUST WANT TO WIN THE STUPID TOURNAMENT!"

"In any case," Yaoyorozu interjected. ""Our team is down by three points, and we've yet to earn any. We need to start individually strategizing for our own matches rather than focusing on our losses."

Kendo turned to Yaoyorozu. "That's true, but how do we do that if we don't even know the quirks of our opponents?" We were given a fighting chance during training at the Danger Room, where everyone fought together, but we were so spread apart that not everyone saw each others quirks in action!"

"True," Midoriya cut in. "we were pretty spread out in the Danger Room, but at least each of us saw an MA student in action, correct? If at least one of us knows anything about the opponents quirk, why don't we just share any information we have to give each of us an edge?"

"Oh yeah! Why didn't I think of that? That's a great idea Midoriya!" Kirishima exclaimed.

Everyone seemed to agree except Bakugo. "I can do just fine on my own, you damn nerd! Don't think about coming up with a stupid plan for me, you got it, DEKU?!" Midoriya was trying to calm Bakugo down as Kaminari arrived.

"Hey Kaminari! Sorry you lost..." Ashido attempted to console her friend.

"No, I'm sorry guys. I promised I would win and I lost it out there..."

"The best thing to do now is to learn from the experience and become stronger for it." Tokoyami stated as Iida praised his wisdom by flailing his arms about.

"Hey, Kaminari, we were just talking about how we should share information on our experiences in the Danger Room to come up with strategies against Marvel Academy!" Kaminari suddenly grabbed Kirishima by the shoulders and shook him violently. "AND YOU'RE JUST DISCUSSING THIS NOW AFTER I GOT MY ASS HANDED TO ME?!"

"It sure would have helped me too..." Sero said dryly.

"I doubt it." Shinso said bluntly.

"Well, let's just keep going with this plan moving forward." Kendo separated Kirishima and Kaminari. "Who's going next?"

"Oh! I believe it's Hatsume's turn! Hey, Hatsume-" Midoriya looked to see that the quirky inventor was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, she must have gone downstairs to prepare already. I hope she'll be alright..."

While the rest of his classmates were talking, Shinso looked to the door, wondering about Hatsume. On a whim, he decided to walk down to find her. Taking a walk down the hall to the waiting room for the UA students, he found Hatsume sitting in the corner and clutching her knees. She glanced up as Shinso entered the room.

"You going to lose those?" Shinso asked.

"Huh?" Shinso pointed at her knees, and getting what he was saying, she loosened her grip as the boy took a seat beside her. "So, what's the story, kid? You've got a fight to get ready for."

"Hey, you're a kid too, you know!" Hatsume's attitude vanished as she became downcast. "I just don't know...well, that is to say...um...I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this."

Shinso was definitely concerned now. Despite not knowing her for long, Hatsume was never one to mince words, let alone find them difficult to find. "It's not like you haven't fought in a tournament before."

"True," Hatsume's voice was frank, but not with the exciteable tone she usually carried. "But I had my own motives for getting as far as I did in the Sports Festival, and when I did I wasn't thinking about winning, I just gave up as soon as I got what I wanted."

"You made it to the finals to advertise your support items, right?" Shinso asked.

Hatsume nodded, her gaze still fixed to the floor. "Even then, I only had the advantage by a margin. Once my babies were spent I'm sure that guy with the legs would have carried me out of bounds, no sweat!"

"Well, sure. However, you just weren't motivated to win back then. Why aren't you now?"

Hatsume's eyes grew sad. "There's just no way I can win this kind of fight. I mean, I don't actually have any kind of combat experience or training, I'm not a hero student!"

"Neither am I." Shinso looked at Hatsume intently as she finally decided to look at him.

"I've failed twice to get on the hero track, and it probably won't happen again after this tournament, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just give up and start slacking."

Hatsume saw his fight, he was terribly outmatched, and yet, he stood his ground like nothing could stop him. "But...you actually want to be a hero! I'm in Support...and that's where I'm happy the most, making babies and tinkering all day, that's what I do! It's all I really want to do!"

"So, just find a way to motivate yourself to win this one fight." Hatsume looked confused. "Think about it this way," Shinso continued. "with the proper motivation, I'm sure you could find the will you need. You may not want to be a hero, but your items are used for fighting and capturing villains all the time! Maybe if you think about it as another exhibition or something, you could find it in you to at least put up a good fight."

Hatsume looked at Shinso unimpressed. "What kind of a pep talk is that? Still..."

Shinso watched puzzled as Hatsume stood slowly on her feet.

"...YOU MIGHT BE RIGHT, GENERAL STUDIES BOY!" Shinso jolted back at her sudden radiance.

She turned to him and gave him an assuring thumbs up. "Thanks, guy! For just this one fight, I'm going to do my very best, like you did! I'll probably do better though, just saying."

Shinso rolled his eyes and stood back up lazily. "So, do you have a plan then?"

Hatsume placed a hand on her chin and stared upward thoughtfully. She brought her fist down on the palm of her other hand in a moment of brilliance. She turned back to Shinso with a reassuring smile. "I'm fighting that kid with the robot, right? I think I've got one or two ideas about what to do with him."

Shinso closed his eyes, relieved, and smirked. "Guess I have nothing to worry about then...well, good luck."

Leaving her alone in the room to her devices, Hatsume began to unpack her equipment as the gears in her head began to turn.

"HEY WHATTUP YO, we're back and ready for the next match! From Yuuei High, it's the chick that wowed everyone with her fancy gadgets at the Sports Festival! Let's hear it for Mei Hatsume!"

Mei walked out into the arena, a white pack strapped to her back with matching gloves, boots, and pads on her knees and elbows. She was nervous, but knew better than to put anything on but her best face for this.

"AAAAAAND representin' the Support Course for Marvel Academy, it's the prodigal child of the Big 6, Hiro Hamada!"

"The Big 6?" All Might questioned Steve.

"The top 6 students in the Support Department, going across every year. Hiro down there is just a first year, but he's been hailed as the youngest genius the school has ever had enrolled. Folks around here have big plans for his future."

Hatsume met Hiro on the stage, and took in his hero outfit. It was so unusual to see a support student even have one, she wasn't quite sure how impressed she should be. Needless to say, she felt severely underdressed. "How old are you, kid? Did your mom make that outfit for you?"

Ugh, trash talking like this feels so...forced. Hatsume's fake smile hopefully securing her confidence to her opponent. Hiro just closed his eyes and smiled, unwavering in the face of Hatsume's hollow threats. She could see why once the shadow of Baymax loomed over the both of them.

"Do you like him? Baymax is the greatest achievement of the Hamada family! I hope you don't think you can beat the two of us."

Mei didn't take to Hiro's mocking tone very well. Who did this little kid think he is? Even if he did have a big scary robot...She took in the mechanical marvels appearance with wonder. It was about eight feet tall, with a muscular build and very large arms ending in claws. The assorted armor on its body was colored green, the texture of the material giving it a reptilian vibe. To match, it had a pair of wings folded on its back and a short, dragon-like head.

Midoriya was awestruck, recognizing the goliath from when they first arrived at MA. "I-Is that even allowed?! He's huge!"

There were stars in Mei's eyes as she devoured the sight of the advanced machine, shaking her head suddenly so she could focus on the impending fight. Hiro patted the body armor on Baymax's abdomen, the solidity of the carbon fiber weave resonating in Mei's ears. Releasing the strap on her holster, she readied her hand on the handle of the capture gun within like an old west outlaw. We're both from the support course, so it's safe to say neither of our quirks are very combat effective, she thought as her fingers trembled. Then it all comes down to who's Babies are gonna hold out to the end! She bit her lip as Hiro started walking behind the rigid Baymax.

"Baymax...go get her!"

Blinking once, the behemoth galloped towards Hatsume. Startled by the robots sudden movement, her hand stumbled with the capture gun. Nearly falling backwards, she ducked under Baymax's arm just before it could grab her. Leaping onto the ground, she finally found the grip of the gun in her palm, pulling it out and taking aim at Hiro.

"Gotcha, kid!" she pulled the trigger, the capture net wrapping around Hiro and dropping him to the ground. He fell with a thud, and the young Hiro struggled to break free of his bonds. "All right!" Hatsume stood up and shouted. "Good luck getting out of that! The fibers of the net are made of a special alloy of my own design! The more you move, the more it constricts your body!"

Hiro struggled for a bit, groaning as the weave of the net grew tighter until he couldn't move. Giving up the struggle, a determined grin fell across his face. "We're not done yet! Baymax! Implement Capture Maneuver 3!"

Hatsume turned too late, unable to see that Baymax had an arm outstretched in her direction. With a loud pop and a burst of air, Baymax's forearm was launched towards Hatsume with breakneck speed. Claws outstretched, the palm impacted upon her midsection, the claws closing around her as she was being rocketed across the arena. Damn! I think that knocked the wind out of me! I'll be knocked out of bounds at this rate! Only one chance...

Time seemed to slow down as Hatsume struggled against the wind to reach for her wristband. Pressing a button on the band, her twin telescoping hydraulic attachment bars shot down into the ground with enough force to break through the concrete. With a sudden stop, Hatsume and Baymax's fist were brought down into ground just before reaching the edge, with a force strong enough to tear one of the attachment bars from her pack. Wrenching herself free from the fist, Hatsume fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. Baymax really had knocked the wind out of her.

"Hey!" Hiro shouted to her. "Are you ok? I didn't mean to use that much force on you, I guess I just forgot to recalibrate Baymax's combat parameters before the match!" If she weren't coughing, Hatsume would be dumbfounded. Is this kid for real? He almost won and he's worried about me? She gave him a thumbs up and a weak grin, and Hiro closed his eyes and exhaled with relief.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. In that case, if you're not going to throw the match I think it's time we got serious." Facing his palms away from himself, his hands began glowing orange and red as the fibers of the net started to burn until they snapped. Wrestling himself from the net, Hiro stood up and rubbed his hands.

Hiro Hamada! His Quirk: Heat Transfer!

He can transfer any portion of his body heat into his hands, super heating them! This can dangerously lower his body temperature if he's not careful, but he can absorb and store other heat sources through touch to compensate!

Great, Hatsume thought. Now he's got a stupid cool quirk too. Doesn't matter; as long as the robot is in play, I don't stand a chance of knocking him out of bounds. Staggering to her feet, she pressed the same button on her wristband again, detaching the broken attachment bars from her pack.

"You've got some nice gear! But it's not enough to take care of Baymax!" Hiro gestured towards Hatsume, and Baymax charged at her again, its fist magnetically returning to its arm. No! Not yet! Hatsume ran and slid across the arena as Baymax gave chase. Grabbing her fallen capture gun, she fired off another shot at Baymax, wrapping a net around its head. Baymax growled, disoriented as it scratched at the net. Now Hatsume charged towards Hiro, punching him in the face and sending him back.

"This isn't a Pokemon battle! I think it's about time you fought back!" The crowd cheered as Hatsume lifted the smaller Hiro above her head and ran like hell to the edge of the arena.

"She's treating him like a little kid! Is she planning on throwing him out of the ring herself?" Midoriya yelled. Hatsume laughed maniacally as Hiro flailed in an attempt to get himself down, Baymax chasing after her.

"This is just...too weird." Kamala commented with a weird look on her face.

Robbie crossed his arms and exhaled. "It's pathetic is what it is. What a baby."

Hiro continued yelling for Baymax to hurry up and rescue him as Hatsume gleefully jogged to the edge of the arena. "All right! I've had enough of this!" Pressing a button on his wrist, Hiro's suit suddenly became hot to the touch, causing Hatsume to yelp and drop him, her hands burnt.

Shaking her hands, Hatsume grimaced at the sting of her burns. "Oooh, you're gonna pay for that one, runt!" Hiro picked himself up as Baymax arrived at his side. "My suit can transfer any amount of my stored up heat energy throughout my suit as well. Don't kid yourself if you think you can just toss me around like a ragdoll! Let's go, Baymax!" Nodding, Baymax stood in front of Hiro and knelt down as the boy climbed onto his companions back. Heating up his palms, he placed his gloves onto a pair of circular grips in Baymax's shoulder blades. "Using my quirk, I can give Baymax a power boost for a limited time." Baymax leaned forward and a pair of wings shot out from his body. "This is our Big Hiro combo formation! You might as well give up, there's no way you can beat us like this!"

Hatsume clenched her fists, despite the pain. Showing no signs of fear, she stared down the duo as she trembled. Her eyes darkened, and she flashed a determined grin. "The game's not over yet, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!"

Hiro grinned back. "What are you waiting for, then?"

Hatsume's classmates were on the edge of their seats. "C'mon Hatsume!" Midoriya called.

"Does she even have anything left? Nothing can get past that monster!" Kaminari cried.

Hatsume pressed one more button on her bracelet, and various mechanical components sprouted from her pack, wrapping around her body, forming a vast chest plate. More components made their way down her legs, covering them and attaching themselves to her hover soles. A jet pack sprouted from the back, and the final components formed large arms around her own, a helmet with a pair of goggles for eyes lowering over her head.

"Prepare yourself, Hiro Hamada! This is Baby #65, and it's going to pound you and your robot into the ground!" The mechanical arms bashed their fists together, ready for combat. "This Baby is untested, but I've spent a lot of time studying Stark and Pym technology, and I eventually found a way to develop a mech suit that could be compartmentalized into this backpack, without all of the extra weight!" She swung the large arms, flexing and showing off their girth and might and reveling in the glory of her work. " I am truly ingenious, HAHAHAHAHA!!"

"Guess she's got her second wind..." Shinso smirked nervously.

"Th-that's INSANE! You developed a series of miniaturized interconnected cyber prosthetics all on your own? That's so cool! But Baymax and I aren't backing down, right buddy?" Baymax nodded, and the robot charged at Hatsume, flying low to the ground with fists outstretched. Hiro was surprised when Hatsume caught Baymax's fists within her own robot hands, holding them back.

"An attack like that won't work on me!" Hatsume wasn't giving any ground.

Hiro leaned over to Baymax. "Baymax! Increase thrust 80%!" Baymax's jets fired with more ferocity, and Hatsume held on, but her suit was starting to slide backwards. Gritting her teeth, Hatsume swung her arms and let go of Baymax, tossing him and Hiro into the air. Readjusting their position, Hiro and Baymax flew around the arena and back towards Hatsume. With a yell, she leaped high into the air, taking a swing and missing Baymax by inches.

"Damn, her suit is stronger than we thought. We can't take any more chances, we need to finish this now! Baymax, increase thrust 100% and knock her out of the ring!" Swooping low, Baymax flew at full speed towards Hatsume, reeling back its arm. Hatsume turned to face them, placing her left fist towards her right hand, which opened up at the palm and began releasing a torrent of lightning blue energy into her fist.

"Guess it's time for my special move! Plasma Punch fully charged!" She reeled back, launching her glowing electrified robotic fist to meet Baymax's punch. The sheer force was enough to send a shockwave towards the audience, the power emanating from the impact threatening to send both competitors flying. Neither of them gave in to the impact, each individual arm pushing the other one back, the threat of defeat keeping the clash going.

"I'M NOT...A FIGHTER...I NEVER WANTED TO BE!" Hatsume yelled over the storm. "THE ONLY REASON I'M EVEN HERE...IS BECAUSE I WANTED TO LEARN...TO SHOW EVERYONE...HOW GREAT MY BABIES ARE...AND IF I HAVE TO BEAT YOU TO DO THAT, THEN I WILL NEVER...GIVE...UP!!!" As the fist of Hatsume's suit started to crunch under Baymax's, she spun around its arm, using her free arm to grab Baymax's head, swinging it over her and slamming it into the ground. When the dust settled, Baymax was buried beneath a pit of broken steel, and Hiro was on the ground in a daze.

Staggering back from the crater she made, Hatsume took in deep breaths and fell to her knees. Metal plates, wiring and screws popped off the wreck that was her prized baby. She activated the release switches that popped the backpack and suit off of her body. With the weight dropped, she rolled her aching shoulders back. "I guess there are a few adjustments I need to make to the internal support...once I manage to scrape all the pieces back together. Hey kid...you okay down there?"

Hiro didn't acknowledge her, instead turning over to look at Baymax. "Baymax, can you hear me?" He ran his hands on the robots head, inspecting the damage. Baymax just turned to Hiro and gave him a thumbs up. He sighed and fell back to the ground. "That was some fight. Listen, I think we're done. I don't know if Baymax can take another beating right now. I can't either, for that matter."

Hatsume was dumbfounded. The kid barely seemed to do anything, but she'll take what she can get. "Well, if you say so, kid."

Magneto raised his hand. "Hiro has forfeited the match! Hatsume wins!"

The crowd cheered, but Hatsume paid them no mind. Instead she helped Hiro to his feet. Hiro couldn't place the expression on her face. The end was so sudden, he wondered if this wasn't the victory that she wanted.

"That Baymax of yours is super cool! You know, I bet if I took a look at his hardware I could make some improvements-"

"Like I'll let you touch Baymax! Only I get to work on him!" The tension broken, Hatsume just laughed it off, taking a moment to notice the crowd.

"Some plan."

Shinso met up with Hatsume as she stepped inside from the arena. He wasn't looking at her as he leaned against the wall beside the entrance.

"And what's this supposed to be? You're idea of being cool?"

Shinso scoffed and looked away. Was he hiding embarrassment? Hatsume kept it coy and walked up to him with her arms crossed.

"Well," Shinso muttered under his breath. "That power suit trick was actually pretty cool."

Hatsume was silent a moment, then bumped her fist into Shinso's shoulder. He turned back to her with some surprise, and smiled at her.

Hatsume smiled wide. "Thanks for your help. I guess you're pretty cool too."

**_A/N_**

**_This chapter was pretty difficult to write, but I hope you guys enjoyed it!_**

**_HERE'S THE PREVIEW:_**

**_WOW! Hatsume's match was really impressive! But Yuuei is still losing to Marvel Academy! Depending on how Aoyama and Ashido's matches go, it might be up to me to get our school ahead!_**

**_Don't think I'll take a promise like that lightly, Midoriya!_**

**_Miles?!_**

**_NEXT TIME ON MY HERO ACADEMIA: A WORLD OF MARVELS:_**

**_SUCCESSORS COLLIDE!_**

**_I'll fight you if I have to, Midoriya! For my teacher and my school!_**

**_Go Beyond!_**

**_PLUS ULTRA!!!_**


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